Eric von Hippel is the recipient of a Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. This career-achievement award is granted "to academics whose fundamental discoveries, new theories, or insights have had a significant impact on their own discipline and who are expected to continue producing cutting-edge achievements in the future." The award honors von Hippel’s groundbreaking research on user innovations and his work fostering international exchange and scientific discussions around user innovation and open source innovation, including initiating the Open and UserInnovation Conference, which is now an internationally acclaimed forum.
Von Hippel was also awarded an honorary doctorate of economics and social science by the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, a major German technical university, "for his path-breaking contributions in the research area of user innovation and for his tireless efforts to support young researchers in their academic career paths." This is his third honorary doctorate.