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How to Apply

You want to fast-track your business and/or innovation based on EO? With help from the largest EO community and ecosystem, you are able to take it to the next level and win your share of a total prize pool of more than EUR 500,000.

Below we explain how to participate in the Copernicus Masters innovation competition step-by-step. If you need further support with your submission, please get in touch with us.

1

Register to our secure database from 11 April to 11 July 2022 extended until 13 July 2022 11:59 PM CEST.

Choose your partner challenge and enter all your details into the database.

2

3

Additionally, choose a Regional Prize. You can pick the Prize that best supports your business case, even if it is not your country of residence.

Watch the “How to Participate”-Video below:

Timeline

CopMa_Timeline_2022

Data Access

Watch the video below and find out how to access Earth observation data.

Receive even more information about Data Access Portals, the RUS Service, Copernicus Services and the Copernicus Programme.

Helpdesk

We are happy to help if you still can’t find the answer. This is the primary point of contact for participants of the Copernicus Masters.
So if you have any questions about the competition please get in touch through this contact point.

Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO)

Ines Kühnert
Head of Galileo & Copernicus Competitions
Ines.Kuehnert@azo-space.com
+49 8153 29800-19

Terms of Participation 2022

Please be aware of the Terms of Participation below. You can download the PDF file here.

Content of Terms as of 11.04.2022

The Copernicus Masters is organised under an ESA contract by Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen (“the Organiser”) and is supported by various prize-awarding partners (“the Partners”).

The Copernicus Masters is designed to support the development of Copernicus-related entrepreneurship by eliciting and rewarding projects and business ideas that make use of Earth observation data primarily generated under the Copernicus programme. The Copernicus Masters 2022 is calling for proposals between 11 April and 11 July 2022 extended until 13 July 2022 11:59 PM CEST in different categories (“the Challenges”) and (“the Prizes”).
Enterprises, scientific institutions, and individuals of legal adult age are entitled to participate in the Copernicus Masters 2022. Applications will be accepted from anywhere in the world except for the ESA SpaceLeap Challenge. The ESA Space LeapChallenge accepts proposals only from enterprises, scientific institutions, and individuals of legal adult age having a permanent residency, their headquarters or nationality in countries that have signed a Copernicus cooperation agreement on Copernicus data access and Earth observation data exchange. Namely: the United States, Australia, Ukraine, Chile, Colombia, Serbia, African Union, India and Brazil. Plus Eastern Partnership Countries: Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Participants are requested to electronically submit their contributions from April 11, 2022 until EOD (11:59 p.m. CEST) 11 July 2022 extended until July 13 2022 11:59 PM CEST. Please refer to the procedure described below.

Descriptions of all of the Challenges in the Copernicus Masters 2022 are available at  https://copernicus-masters.com/.  Each Challenge focuses on a specific topic, and therefore offers a different reward. The dedicated evaluation criteria for each Copernicus Masters Challenge can also be found on the dedicated landing pages of the challenges. They will determine the winning proposal.

The Copernicus Masters Regional Prizes represent either a region or a country. The participants may choose their desired Copernicus Masters Regional Prize additionally to the Challenge based on the reward offered by the Copernicus Masters Regional Prize partners as the Copernicus Masters Regional Prizes do not have a specific focus. Every Copernicus Masters Regional Prize has its own landing page to inform the participant about the benefits of the Prize Partner and the reward. They are available at: https://copernicus-masters.com/#Regional-Prizes

The competition will be organised and carried out exclusively in English via a secure online idea database accessible at www.copernicus-masters.com. Registration at this site is required to create a user account, which may then be used to submit innovative business ideas to any of the Copernicus Masters Challenges and additionally to any Copernicus Masters Regional Prizes. When creating an account, participants will be asked to provide contact details, which the Organiser will use to inform them of all matters related to the Copernicus Masters and any other issues the Organiser deems relevant to participants in the competition. After registering, participants will receive a confirmation link they can use to log in and enter their details. To start your submission, participants will be required to choose the Challenge & Prize to which they would like to submit a proposal and answer all of the mandatory questions in an online questionnaire. The following specification clarifies the procedure to apply:
  • Participants can ONLY select one Partner Challenge and, with the same entry, additionally choose ONLY one Prize Partner if they desire
  • It is possible to enter more than one idea using the same personal account, but participants may not enter the same idea for different Challenges & Prizes
New Challenges and Prizes may be added while the competition is underway. Any additional Challenges and Prizes will be announced on www.copernicus-masters.com, which will always reflect the most current status. Participants must submit their idea and complete the mandatory sections of the database no later than 11:59pm hrs. CEST on 11 July 2022 extended until 13 July 2022 11:59 PM CEST. Only those ideas that contain all the mandatory information will be considered for evaluation. Ideas will automatically enter the evaluation phase when you hit the submit button in the database. Participants will receive a notification of submission from the organiser. However, participants can still edit their entry at any time until the closing of the database. In that case it is important to again click the submit button to make sure your latest version goes into evaluation. The entry will then be submitted to a dedicated panel of experts appointed to the chosen Challenge and Prize. Each of the experts tasked with evaluating the ideas submitted will be required to commit to a non-disclosure agreement with the Organiser before the ideas are put forward for evaluation. The evaluation of the ideas is an anonymous process. Each idea will receive its own identification number. During the evaluation process, the experts will only be able to see this ID. In each Challenge and Prize, however, a small number of finalists may be invited to deliver a personal pitch or participate in a phone interview. This will, of course, require disclosure of the participant’s name, but he or she will already have been nominated as a finalist at this stage. Participants acknowledge that their contact details will be passed on to the respective Challenge sponsor and Prize sponsor to which they have registered their idea/solution, after the database has been closed and the winners chosen. This partner may then contact participants to determine whether they are interested in moving forward with the ideas submitted.

The expert teams of each Challenge and Prize will select, at their discretion, their own winning idea. In addition, one overall winner of the competition 2022 will be selected by an international experts team amongst all Challenge and Prize winners, under the supervision of a legal counsel. The Organiser and the Partners shall assume no liability whatsoever for the outcome of the selection process. This outstanding entrant will be awarded a cash prize to the value of EUR 10,000.

The awards ceremony for the Overall Winner 2022, the Copernicus Masters Regional Prize winners, and the Copernicus Masters Challenge winners will take place in late 2022 (exact date and place tbd).

AZO will pay prize money to Challenge and Prize winners or persons authorised by them according to the competition terms and conditions and in the name or for the account of the respective contracting authority. The prize money will be paid in the currency of the contracting authority or organiser using the exchange rate of the bank executing the transfer at the day of payment. Bank charges will be covered by the recipient. Any resulting tax obligations which are caused or affected by the receipt of prize money are to be beared by the recipient himself.

Measures have been taken to ensure the confidentiality of the ideas submitted in the Copernicus Masters 2022. The transmitted ideas will be protected against any access by unauthorised third parties. The experts and all other personnel assigned to organise the competition and evaluate the submissions will also be required by contract to treat all matters as confidential.

All of the personal data of the participants will be treated confidentially and may only be passed on to the group of persons named by the Organiser. Please refer to the link to the data protection policy

https://email.azo-space.com/asset/30:azoprivacypolicyen2018finalpdf

During the awards ceremony, the awarded ideas will be made public along with the names and contact details of the prize winners.

By participating in this competition and accepting any of the prizes awarded, all participants acknowledge that the Organiser and initiators may use their names, addresses, comments, likenesses, photos (incl. photos taken of the winners at the Awards Ceremony), and descriptions of their ideas in publicity or advertising concerning the competition or otherwise in any medium now known or hereafter devised (including the Internet or other interactive networks) at any place or time without further compensation or right of review, and agree to waive their rights with respect to any such publicity and advertising.

Once an idea has been publicly recognised, the Organiser, Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen  and the Partners shall take no further responsibility regarding the further cooperation of the respective winner with any of the Partners, regional management organisations or members of the expert panels. This also includes cases in which no cooperation between a winner and the respective partner or regional management organisation materialises despite the award in question.

Participants shall retain the intellectual property rights to their respective ideas. Whether participants realise their ideas themselves or with a partner of their choice is left to their discretion. Participating in the Copernicus Masters 2022 will not grant participants any additional rights to their respective ideas.

Prior to entering the competition, participants are advised to notify their employers (if applicable) of their ideas in case they were developed in connection with said employment. If chosen as the winner of any Challenge or Prize or both, an idea will be made public; any intellectual property protection (if the idea was not previously protected by a patent) may thus be rendered void or otherwise lost. As a result, the idea may become common property. Participants are therefore strongly advised to protect their ideas adequately, such as by applying for a patent, utility model, or another form of intellectual property protection.

Despite all of the efforts made to keep the participants’ ideas and information confidential prior to their publication, participants hereby understand and acknowledge that neither the Organiser nor the Partners shall assume any liability for any damages resulting from their ideas or information becoming public.

By entering the competition, participants affirm that they are the sole owners of all rights pertaining to the ideas they submit and that their participation will not violate the rights of any third party. Should any third-party rights nonetheless come to light, participants further affirm that neither the Organiser nor the Partners shall be held liable for any amount of resulting damages or claims. The Organiser and Partners shall thus be exempt from any third-party claims.

Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen takes no responsibility regarding the provision of the rewards offered by any of the competition partners. This also includes the payment of cash awards or the conduction of in-kind services. The fulfilment of the services offered is the sole responsibility of the respective challenge partner or prize partner.

The decisions made concerning the competition’s awards shall not be subject to dispute in a court of law. The decisions rendered by the experts involved in the different Challenges and Prizes shall be final and binding for all participants in all aspects of the competition. Participants shall have no right to be provided with any justification for the experts’ decisions.

Each winner shall be responsible for rendering any and all federal, state, local, provisional, and other taxes.

Winners who are to be awarded a cash prize must submit to the Organiser an official document (signed by their employer) stating that they (and not their company) are to receive said prize.

The Organiser reserves the right to modify the present terms, including any of the deadlines set forth herein, at any time.

Participation in this competition shall be subject to German law. Place of jurisdiction shall be Munich, Germany.

For more information on the competition, please visit: www.copernicus-masters.com.

If you have any further questions, please send them to support@copernicus-masters.com.

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Get in Touch!

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Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO)

Ines Kühnert
Head of Galileo & Copernicus Competitions
Ines.Kuehnert@azo-space.com
+49 8153 29800-19