Are you a doctoral researcher at an Una Europa partner university? 

 Is your research related to one of the following alliance Focus Areas? 

• Cultural Heritage

• Future Materials and Technologies 

• One Health

Do you want to share the impact of your research with others? Then enter the Una Europa PhD Impact Competition!

The call for applications will close 14 June 2026 at 23:59 CEST.

What is it?

The Una Europa PhD Impact Award aims to recognise and celebrate the impact, and potential impact, of research and researchers. We invite doctoral researchers to reflect on their research practice and consider how it impacts on society and contributes to the world. Being able to articulate the impact their work is an essential skill for all researchers. 

This call is adressed to doctoral researchers from the fields of:

• Cultural Heritage
• Future Materials & Technologies
• One Health

Who can enter?

The competition is open to all doctoral researchers who are currently undertaking a PhD at one of the 11 Una Europa partner universities. Researchers may enter during their PhD, up until the time of their PhD defence.

What’s in it for me?

The winners of the Una Europa PhD Impact Award will be invited to the Una Europa General Assembly in Leuven, Belgium (16 – 18 November 2026) to showcase their research to the Una Europa community and network with other researchers from their field. Travel and accommodation costs will be covered. 

Winners will also have the opportunity to participate in an online science communication workshop (exact date of the workshop tba) to support their preparations for presenting at the General Assembly. 

In addition, the winning entries will be published on the Una Europa website and winners will receive a digital certificate.  

How does the competition work?

The application form will invite you to consider the impact or potential impact of your research, e.g. on society, the economy, the environment, on health, on education, on technology, on culture or on policy.

Think about your research from the perspective of a non-expert. Approach the case study with a non-scientific, non-technical audience in mind. Anyone without expert knowledge should be able to understand the case study. Avoid jargon and technical language.

The winner(s) will be selected by an interdisciplinary jury of researchers in the fields of Future Materials and Technologies, One Health and Cultural Heritage. 

When is the deadline for submission?

The call for applications was open until 14 June 2026 at 23:59 CEST.

The winner(s) will be notified by mid-August and must be available to travel to Leuven to present their research between 16 - 18 November 2026 (exact date tba).

If any of the winners are non-EU citizens, we will do our best to support you in obtaining a visa to travel to Leuven. However, due to the timeline and waiting times for visa appointments, we cannot guarantee that a visa will be issued in time. 

Questions can be addressed to Kirsten Schmiester at kirsten.schmiester@fu-berlin.de, Senior Project Lead for Una.Futura at Freie Universität Berlin.