No, creating a spin-off company is not mandatory. The right commercialization approach—whether it's a spin-off, licensing, or co-development with industry—depends on both the preferences of the project team and the market landscape, such as the presence of licensing partners or investors. The path for each project team becomes clear during program participation. Our experts are available to guide each team given each individual situation.

Yes, multiple entries are possible and welcome to not put especially innovative institutes and clinics at a disadvantage.

Yes, you can! The DHA team will support you to assemble a team with the complementary skillsets for success.

Yes. Reapplying with the same project is possible under the condition that that the project can show that it has developed further and that open questions from the prior application’s feedback have been addressed or solved. Applications identical to the prior application may not be considered.

It depends. Projects only seeking to validate external technology or to fund clinical trials are not eligible, since they are not pursuing the development of their solution. On the other hand, projects that require clinical validation and/or regulatory approval as part of their solution development can be funded. This is something the BIH DHA has longstanding experience with, and we will help teams in Stage 1 to understand the pathway and requirements and then support them with implementation in Stage 2.

Yes, you can apply even if you are receiving funding from another source, but you need to disclose all other funding sources, duration and the content of the funding during the application. It is important to clearly delineate which parts of the project are being funded by each source to avoid overlap. Not sharing other funding sources beforehand can cause elimination from the selection process.

No, as the DHA program specifically focuses on digital health solutions aimed at improving patient care and outcomes. Projects should have a clear application within healthcare, such as medical devices or health tech platforms. However, there are some use cases (in logistics, wellbeing, etc.) which may partially overlap with healthcare topics where we encourage you to discuss your project idea with a member of the BIH DHA team.

We estimate it will take a few hours, depending on your project’s maturity and previous work. The form is designed to provide a comprehensive overview, covering aspects you may not have considered, and set the stage for a productive Q&A in the deep dive. Our focus is to ensure projects are well-suited to the BIH DHA program or suggest alternative steps if needed. For any questions, please feel free to contact us.

Yes, you may include external advisors or consultants in your team if they bring the specialized expertise and a proven track record necessary for your project. However, their role must be clearly defined, and their involvement must align with the overall goals of the project.

In addition to formal selection criteria regarding applicant’s employment status and project goal being an innovative digital health solution, advanced selection criteria include: Team (profiles and relevant expertise); Product (medical need, innovativeness of the proposed solution, technology, evidence/data, IP situation, project maturity, and development path); and Market (competitive situation, and monetary/societal impact potential).

The BIH DHA program regards mentoring as a key value-addition for participating teams. Therefore, our international mentor network consists of high-profile subject matter experts, seasoned industry professionals, experienced healthcare entrepreneurs and active digital health investors. Mentor performance is monitored continuously. See our mentors here https://dha.bihealth.org/get-in-touch-with-our-mentors/.

Teams can access a growing pool of talents to grow their project teams in complementary areas as needed, of service providers to help develop the product, and of industry and investors to help bring the solution to patients.

Yes, you are free to conduct research in parallel to the project in the BIH DHA as long as you clearly delineate research and project goals, activities and resources. It is important to avoid double funding between research grants and BIH DHA funding. Each activity needs to have its own purpose and budget. Furthermore, publications related to your proposed solution should follow a coherent IP and publication strategy.

Please refer to Verwertungsordnung (Charité Amtliches Mitteilungsblatt Nr. 264, 06.05.2021, Link). For any questions, please contact the technology transfer office Charité BIH Innovation - https://www.charite.de/fileadmin/user_upload/portal/charite/presse/publikationen/amtl-mitteilungsblatt/2021/AMB210506-264.pdf)

Projects are regularly evaluated based on their progress toward achieving the milestones outlined in the Award Letter. The BIH DHA team conducts periodic reviews with external experts to ensure projects are on track and provides feedback to help teams overcome obstacles and refine their development path.

If your project requires more time during BIH DHA Stage 2, you may request an extension which will be externally evaluated based on reasons for the delay, progress made and potential for successful completion. Extensions are not guaranteed but are granted on a case-by-case basis.

If your project does not meet its milestones, the BIH DHA team will work with you to understand the obstacles and explore options for adjusting the plan. In some cases, we may provide additional support to help overcome challenges. If further research is required before the concentrated development can proceed, we will help evaluate other funding options. You are welcome to reapply and rejoin the program once the obstacle has been addressed. However, if continuation is not feasible, project funding may be discontinued.

Yes, project pivots are allowed if justified by new insights or challenges. The BIH DHA team must be informed proactively of any changes to the project plan, and updates must be reflected in the Milestone Plan to ensure alignment with the program's goals.

The working language at the BIH DHA is English as we work with international teams, mentors, advisors, etc. For interactions with BIH/Charité administrative offices, however, we highly recommend having at least one team member with sufficient German language proficiency.

BIH Digital Labs, home of the BIH Digital Health Accelerator, is located at Am Zirkus / Bertolt-Brecht-Platz 3 near Charité Campus Mitte and S-Bahnhof Friedrichstraße. No matter where you need to hurry to when clinical obligations come up – this is a highly traffic-efficient location.

Yes. Two of BIH’s areas of support for medical translation are the BIH Biomedical Innovation Academy (BIA) and Charité BIH Innovation (CBI). Charité BIH Innovation supports researchers and clinicians in the development and transfer of products into medical applications and the healthcare market, e.g. by licensing or founding a company. The BIH Biomedical Innovation Academy (BIA) focuses on young scientists and acts as a think tank for strategic human resources development in biomedicine and for new models of academic innovation. Through early scouting of outstanding talents and target group-specific support programs, a new generation of translationally trained young clinical and scientific talent is being produced. The BIA focuses on individual support with the help of focused support programs for each career phase - from the PhD scholarship to the (Junior) (Digital) Clinician Scientist Program and the Advanced Clinician Scientist Program. In addition to consulting and support in the areas of IP, patenting, licensing and law, Charité BIH Innovation offers two funding programs. The SPARK-BIH program supports projects in the fields of phama, ATMP, biotech and medtech, e.g. for the validation of research results with the aim of therapy or product development. The BIH Digital Health Accelerator Program supports projects based on digital technologies in the development of market-ready digital health solutions in the field of digital health. The BIA and CBI programs can generally be combined, as long as double funding is excluded. However, prior coordination with the respective program management is absolutely necessary for this. The aim is to open up excellent career paths for outstanding talents in research, clinical practice and entrepreneurship and to enable medical translation into application.