1. Organiser The Circular Innovation Session is part of CIRMA 2026, the Second International Conference on Circular Materials and Mobility, organised within the Horizon Europe project ZEvRA (Grant Agreement No. 101138034) by Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., acting through Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU, ⟨address⟩ (“the Organiser”).

2. Scope These terms apply to every application to the Circular Innovation Session and to participation in the session itself. By submitting an application, the applicant accepts these terms.

3. Eligibility The eligibility criteria published on the call page apply. The Organiser may verify the information provided and may exclude applicants who do not meet the criteria or who provide inaccurate information, at any stage, including after selection.

4. Application Applications are submitted through the form on the call page by 12 October 2026, 23:59 CEST. Late or incomplete applications are not considered. There is no application fee. Costs incurred in preparing an application are not reimbursed.

5. Selection Selection is made by the CIRMA Track Chairs against the published criteria. There is no legal entitlement to selection. The decision is final and is not subject to appeal. Jury members with a personal, financial or advisory relationship to an applicant declare this and abstain from assessing that applicant.

6. Obligations of selected companies Selected companies confirm participation and submit their slides, logo, company photo, speaker biography and the consents referred to in clauses 10 and 11 by 30 October 2026, and register for the conference. A founder or member of the management team delivers the pitch in person and in English on 25 November 2026. If a selected company withdraws, does not confirm in time or does not submit the required material by the deadline, the Organiser may offer the slot to a substitute.

7. Travel and accommodation Each selected company receives one free conference ticket. Travel, accommodation and all other costs are borne by the company.

8. Award The winner is determined by the audience vote (two thirds) and the jury vote (one third), as described on the call page. The award is non-monetary. It consists of a free exhibition stand and a speaking slot at the ZEvRA Final Event on 11–12 May 2027 in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic. The award is not transferable and cannot be paid out in cash. Should the ZEvRA Final Event be cancelled or substantially changed for reasons outside the Organiser’s control, the Organiser will offer an equivalent alternative; there is no entitlement to compensation.

9. No confidentiality The pitch session is a public part of the conference programme. Neither the application nor the pitch is subject to a non-disclosure agreement. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that the information they submit and present can be made public, and in particular that it does not endanger the novelty of any intended patent application. The Organiser assumes no obligation of confidentiality and no liability in this respect.

10. Intellectual property All rights in the submitted materials remain with the applicant. Selected companies grant the Organiser a non-exclusive, royalty-free right to use their company name, logo, short description, company photo, speaker biography and presentation slides for the promotion and documentation of CIRMA 2026 and of the ZEvRA project, including on websites, in printed programmes, in social media and in project reporting to the European Commission.

11. Recordings The session is photographed, filmed and may be streamed and published afterwards. By taking part in the session, participants consent to these recordings and to their publication for the purposes set out in clause 10.

12. Changes and cancellation The Organiser may change the format, the schedule and the number of pitch slots, and may cancel the session, if this is necessary for organisational reasons. Applicants and selected companies have no claim to compensation in such cases.

13. Liability The Organiser is liable without limitation for damage resulting from injury to life, body or health, from intent or gross negligence, and under mandatory statutory provisions. In all other cases liability is limited to the breach of material contractual obligations and to the damage typically foreseeable in such cases.

14. Data protection Personal data is processed as described in the Data Protection Notice for this call.

15. Applicable law These terms are governed by German law.