Danubius Young Scientist Award

Call for nominations

Background

The Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Research (BMBWF) and the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM) created the Danubius Award in 2011, with the intention to honour persons with extraordinary achievements in their scientific activity and output in relation to the Danube Region.  

The Award

To complement this award with a specific prize for young scientists – the so-called „Danubius Young Scientist Award” competition is now open for nominations! 

14 young scientists will be granted this award – one for each country that is part of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region [Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and Ukraine]*.  

The award seeks to highlight the scientific work and talent of young researchers and enhance the visibility of the scientific community in the region. Moreover, the award encourages young scientists to engage in the scientific examination of the multifaceted issues and questions specifically related to the Danube region. 

The award will endow 1,350 Euro for each winner of the Danubius Young Scientist Award. 

An award ceremony is planned for 14 November 2024 in Krems, Austria, the details of which will be announced in due time. Moreover, thanks to the ongoing kind support by the European Commission´s Joint Research Centre the JCR is planning to invite the awardees to visit one of their facilities in Ispra, Italy, in 2025. 

• NEW: For the attribution to the country, the nominating institution is the determining factor. Meaning, if for example, an Austrian institution would nominate a researcher for the award, the citizenship of the researcher itself is irrelevant, the price will be attributed to Austria. With that, we want to open the nomination process for all young researchers from an institution within the EUSDR and thereby contributing to the Danube Region research landscape. 

Award Criteria

• Scientific excellence and innovative approach of the academic work
• Thematic relevance of the scientific work for issues/problems of the Danube Region
• Relevance of the scientific work beyond national borders
• Potential of the candidate (for example: integration in international networks, participation in scientific projects, publication history, experience in teaching etc.)
• No formal age limit – BUT limitation to participants that have received their Master/PhD max. 5 years ago (= after 1 January 2019)
• Submissions of candidates holding only a bachelor degree will not be accepted

Document submission

Documents have to be submitted in English (exception: copy of the academic title received) and as three PDF files: 

1. Nomination of the candidate(s) by the institution (recommendation letter – max. 1 page)* – One recommendation letter can contain up to five candidates nominated by the institution for the award. In such a case, please upload the same letter for each candidate separately. (Document size of maximum 2 MB)
2. One single document about the candidate consisting following information:*
   A) Summary of the scientific work (e.g. thesis, dissertation, journal article, scientific publication etc.) and its specific relevance for the Danube Region (Document size of maximum 2 MB)
   B) Curriculum Vitae including publication list of the candidate (in total max. 3 pages) – the limitation of 3 pages applies to the part B only (CV and publication list) (Document size of maximum 2 MB)
3. Copy of the document related to the candidate´s highest academic title received – to verify the criteria of max. 5 years after master degree or PhD degree* (Document size of maximum 2 MB)

Nominations must be submitted via the online form below.

For any technical issues or questions, please contact d.martinek@idm.at  

The deadline for submitting nominations is Friday, 3 May 2024 at 23:59 CEST. 

Selection process

Candidates for the Danubius Young Scientist Award can come from all scientific disciplines. 

The nomination of the award candidate cannot be made by the candidate himself/herself but he or she has to be nominated by their hosting scientific institution (university, academy of sciences, research organization etc.).  

The number of nominations per institution is limited to five, meaning every university, academy of sciences or research organization etc. can nominate up to a maximum of five candidates in total. However, the five candidates have to come from different faculties or departments, institutes or research groups within the organization. If more than five applications arrive, those arriving via the rectorate or management of the organization will be given preference, as it is assumed that they have gone through an internal coordination process. 

An international expert jury will be responsible for assessing all incoming nominations and for determining a final ranking list.  

The award will be recommended for the highest ranked candidates.