Nominations for the Danubius Young Scientist Award are now open.
The Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMFWF) and the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM) present the Danubius Young Scientist Award annually to fourteen young researchers — one from each country participating in the EU Strategy for the Danube Region: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and Ukraine.
Established in 2014, the award highlights the scholarly work and talent of young researchers and raises the visibility of the region’s academic community. It also encourages young scientists to engage with the many-sided questions and problems that concern the Danube region directly.
Eligibility
The Danubius Young Scientist Award is open to all academic disciplines.
There is no formal age limit, but candidates must have obtained their highest academic degree (Master’s or PhD) within the past five years — that is, after 1 January 2021. Applications from candidates holding only a Bachelor’s degree will not be accepted.
Candidates may not nominate themselves. They must be nominated by the academic institution at which they study or work (university, academy of sciences, research organisation and so on).
A host academic institution may nominate a maximum of five candidates in total. These five candidates must represent different faculties, departments, institutes or research groups within the organisation. If more than five applications are submitted, preference will be given to applications from the rectorate or the management of the organisation, as these are assumed to have passed an internal coordination process.
Submission
Please submit all documents in English (with the exception of the degree certificate) as three PDF files:
A letter of recommendation from the nominating institution (maximum one page).
A single document about the candidate containing:
a summary of the academic work (dissertation, journal article, scholarly publication and so on) and its specific relevance to the Danube region;
a CV including the candidate’s list of publications (CV and publication list, maximum three pages).
A certificate of the candidate’s highest academic degree.
Please send nominations by e-mail to [email protected] by Sunday, 10 May 2026, 23:59 CET.
For any technical questions or problems, please write to [email protected]
Selection process
An international expert jury will assess all nominations against the following criteria:
academic excellence and an innovative approach to the scholarly work;
thematic relevance of the work to the questions and problems of the Danube region;
relevance of the work beyond national borders;
the candidate’s potential — integration into international networks, participation in research projects, publication record, teaching experience and so on.
The jury will establish the final ranking. The highest-ranked candidates will be recommended for the award.
Award ceremony
Each laureate receives a prize of 1,350 euros.
The award ceremony will take place on 5 November 2026 at the University of Ruse (Bulgaria); details will be announced later. Thanks to the continued kind support of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission, the selected laureates are also expected to have the opportunity to visit one of its sites in Ispra, Italy, in 2027.