S+T+ARTS Prize 2026 Competition Closed: Two €20,000 Grand Prizes

S+T+ARTS Prize 2026 Competition Closed: Two €20,000 Grand Prizes

The S+T+ARTS Prize 2026 competition is closed. The verified official call page says plainly that the submission term for 2026 is already over. It directs readers to the current starts.eu and STARTS Prize websites for the latest information, but it does not open a replacement application form or publish a date for the next cycle. In particular, no 2027 deadline has been published on the verified 2026 page.

This page is therefore a record of the closed 2026 opportunity, not a live invitation to submit. The outdated application deadline that appeared in older versions of this listing has been removed. There is no active deadline to enter in the metadata, and the official page should be checked again before treating a future edition as available.

S+T+ARTS Prize 2026 at a glance

The amount belongs to the 2026 competition. It should not be carried forward as a promise about a future edition. The current status page does not announce a 2027 prize amount, application window, eligibility revision, or submission checklist.

What the closed 2026 competition rewarded

The STARTS Prize was designed for work at the meeting point of science, technology, and the arts. The official 2026 listing distinguishes this focus from a project that is simply an artwork using a digital tool or a technical product with decorative creative content. The call welcomed projects driven by both technology and the arts, and said that purely artistic or purely technology-driven projects were not its focus.

That distinction matters when assessing an old project description. A strong entry needed to explain the relationship between the creative practice and the technical or scientific work. The technology could be influenced by artistic research, or an artist could act as a catalyst for new technical thinking. Conversely, a research or development project could use artistic methods to change its questions, prototypes, public meaning, or practical direction. A compelling description would make that exchange visible rather than treating one discipline as a service provider for the other.

The 2026 call named two Grand Prize areas:

Grand Prize – Innovative Collaboration

This area recognized collaboration between industry or technology and artistic or creative sectors when that collaboration opened new avenues for innovation. The important evidence was not merely a list of partners. An applicant needed to show what the partners made together, which decisions were shared, and how the collaboration produced an approach that would be difficult to reach through a conventional technology or arts process alone.

Suitable examples could include an artist and a research laboratory co-developing a machine-learning system, a creative team influencing the design of a robotic interaction, or a company and an artistic practice testing a new material in a public setting. The particular medium was less important than the quality of the exchange and the result.

Grand Prize – Artistic Exploration

This area recognized artistic research and works whose adoption by the arts could influence or change how technology is used, applied, or perceived. The case for this category should connect the artistic method to a concrete shift in technical understanding or practice. A work that merely illustrates a technology would be a weaker fit than one that exposes an assumption, proposes a different interface, changes how a system is evaluated, or makes a technical issue newly visible to the public.

Both areas shared the wider STARTS purpose: to recognize creative approaches to innovation in technology, industry, and society. The 2026 listing also identified artistic research, collaboration between art and technology, connections to innovation, education, social inclusion or sustainability, the European Dimension, originality, aesthetics, concept, innovation, and presentation quality among the judging considerations.

Eligibility for the 2026 call

The official 2026 listing said that artists and creative professionals, as well as the researchers or companies involved, could enter from throughout the world. It also stated that the prize was not limited to citizens of European Union member states. That is the eligibility information for the closed 2026 cycle; it is not a confirmed rulebook for 2027.

The work itself was the central filter. The call described a broad range of eligible practice, including new media applications, human-computer interaction, machine learning, biotechnology, art and science, green technologies, material research, smart cities, citizen empowerment, robotics, and quantum technology. That list was illustrative rather than a narrow classification system. A project outside those examples could still be relevant if it made a strong connection between artistic practice and technological or scientific innovation.

Projects that were only art or only technology were not the intended focus. Applicants should have been able to identify both sides of the relationship and explain their mutual effect. For example, it would not be enough to say that an artwork used an existing algorithm. The description would need to show what the artistic process changed in the algorithm, its use, its interpretation, or its social consequences. Likewise, a technical project would need more than a marketing image made by an artist; it would need meaningful artistic involvement in the research, development, or public result.

Because the verified 2026 status page now contains only a closed-call notice, there are no newly published 2027 eligibility rules to summarize. Anyone preparing for a possible future edition should treat the 2026 criteria as background and reread the next official call once it exists.

Prize amount and recognition

The 2026 call offered two Grand Prizes, with €20,000 for each winner. The two awards were the Innovative Collaboration and Artistic Exploration prizes described above. The official listing also said that winning projects would be prominently featured at the Ars Electronica Festival and at events hosted by consortium partners. That recognition was part of the 2026 opportunity and should not be interpreted as a guaranteed benefit for an unannounced future cycle.

For a project team, the value of the award was not just the cash. A prize at this intersection could help fund fabrication, technical development, research time, documentation, travel, or public presentation. The visibility could also introduce a project to curators, researchers, companies, festivals, and other collaborators. Those are practical reasons the call attracted hybrid work, but they do not change the basic requirement: the submission had to make the art-and-technology relationship understandable to a cross-disciplinary jury.

The amount should be handled carefully in any reuse of this page. It is accurate to say that the 2026 competition offered two €20,000 Grand Prizes. It is not accurate to claim that the same amount is available now or that a 2027 award has been announced. The verified 2026 page makes no such announcement.

Application status and what applicants can do now

There is no current 2026 application step. The official call page says that the submission term is over, so a visitor cannot use this listing as a live “apply” route. The external URL remains useful as an official status check, but it is not presented here as an active submission portal.

For someone who missed the closed cycle, the sensible next steps are limited and straightforward:

1. Check the official 2026 status page for any correction or notice.
2. Follow the links it provides to starts.eu and the main STARTS Prize website.
3. Wait for an official future call before relying on a deadline, amount, eligibility rule, or form.
4. If a project needs a direct status answer, use the contact address shown on the official page: [email protected].

Do not create a submission plan around a date copied from an old page, a search snippet, or a third-party opportunity directory. The verified page does not publish a 2027 deadline. Until a new call is posted, the correct status is “not announced,” not “opening soon” and not “deadline forthcoming.”

Materials worth preparing for a future cycle

The closed-status notice does not provide a live 2027 application form or a current materials checklist. The following is preparation guidance, not a statement that these items are currently required. It is based on the kind of evidence a cross-disciplinary prize needs and on the 2026 call’s emphasis on artistic research, collaboration, technical innovation, and presentation quality.

Prepare a concise project description that answers five questions: what was made, which technical or scientific problem or possibility it addresses, what the artists contributed, what the technical partners contributed, and what changed because the collaboration took place. Keep the explanation readable to a jury member who may know the field but not the project’s specialist vocabulary.

Collect documentation that lets a reviewer see the work functioning. Depending on the project, that could include high-quality still images, a short video, a demonstration, diagrams, screenshots, performance documentation, a prototype record, or a link to a public installation. Captions should identify what is visible and why it matters. Documentation is especially important for work that cannot be understood from a title and paragraph alone.

Make the team legible. List artists, researchers, technologists, companies, institutions, and community partners, then explain their roles. A partnership claim is much stronger when it shows who made decisions, who carried out experiments, who shaped the public encounter, and how the work developed through iteration.

Keep evidence of results in one place. Useful evidence may include a completed work, research output, exhibition, pilot, deployment, public response, technical test, open-source release, publication, or documented change in practice. Do not inflate a small result into a universal claim. A specific result with a clear date and context is more persuasive than a broad statement about impact.

Finally, prepare a short explanation of relevance. The 2026 criteria included innovation, education, social inclusion, sustainability, and a European Dimension. Use only the connections the project can support. If the project involved European partners, venues, networks, communities, or research contexts, explain that plainly. If it did not, do not invent a connection; describe the work’s actual public or international relevance instead.

Questions to ask before a future submission

Would the project be materially different without the artistic practice? Would the technology or scientific research be materially different without the artist’s involvement? Can the team show a decision, experiment, or outcome that demonstrates this exchange? If the answer to all three is yes, the project may fit the spirit of the prize when a new call opens.

It is also worth separating a finished result from an early idea. A jury needs enough substance to assess the quality and implementation of the work. A concept can be ambitious, but ambition alone does not show what the collaboration achieved. Gather the prototype, research record, exhibition, test, or other evidence that makes the project concrete.

The strongest future application will probably be the one that reduces translation work for the jury. It will explain the artistic question and the technical question in the same narrative, show where they affected each other, and give evidence of the consequence. It will also be honest about what is complete, what remains experimental, and what a €20,000 award would make possible.

Frequently asked questions

Is the S+T+ARTS Prize 2026 still open?

No. The official 2026 call page says that the submission term is already over.

What was the 2026 prize amount?

The 2026 call offered two Grand Prizes of €20,000 each: Innovative Collaboration and Artistic Exploration. No future-cycle amount is announced on the verified 2026 page.

Can applicants from outside the European Union enter?

The 2026 listing said the call was open to artists and creative professionals, or the researchers and companies involved, from throughout the world and was not limited to European Union citizens. Future eligibility must be checked against the next official call.

Is there a 2027 deadline?

No 2027 deadline has been published on the verified 2026 page. Do not substitute an estimated month or a date from an earlier cycle.

Should I use the official URL to submit something now?

No. Use it to confirm the closed status and follow its pointers to the current STARTS information. It is not described here as a live submission call.

Where can I ask about the next cycle?

The official status page lists [email protected] for content and technical questions. A direct question to the organizers is more reliable than relying on an old directory entry.

Official source

The verified source for this record is the S+T+ARTS Prize 2026 call page. Its current message is short but decisive: the 2026 submission term is over, the page points readers to starts.eu and the STARTS Prize website for latest information, and no 2027 deadline is published there. Check those official sites again before treating a later cycle as announced.