First edition in 2022

This new award is the European Commission's initiative to recognise and celebrate the outstanding results achieved in the implementation of gender equality by academic and research organisations.

The application process to this first edition of the EU Award for Gender Equality Champions is now open.

Deadline for applications is 13 October 2022 at 17.00 (CET).

Why there is a prize

The EU Award for (Academic) Gender Equality Champions aims to

• complement and boost the requirement for higher education and research organisations applying to Horizon Europe to have in place a Gender Equality Plan (GEP) as an eligibility criterion
• be a tool to advance inclusive gender equality plans and policies in the framework of the new European Research Area (ERA) policy agenda
• act as an enabler for the transformation agenda for universities set in the new ERA, and in line with the new European Strategy for Universities

The prize also intends to raise public awareness of the importance of addressing gender equality in academic and research organisations through institutional change and incentivise a high degree of commitment to implementing inclusive gender equality plans.

The prize will create a community of champions which can inspire other academic and research organisations to become gender equality champions themselves.

The European Research Executive Agency (REA) manages the prize and its winners are selected by an independent expert jury for each prize category.

Horizon Europe Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area (WIDERA) Work Programme 2021-2022 featuring the new prize (p. 154 of 176).

Categories and prize value

There are 3 prize categories:

Sustainable Gender Equality Champions

Organisations that can demonstrate a significant and sustained record of activity and a high level of achievement through the implementation of their Gender Equality Plan.

Newcomer Gender Equality Champions

Organisations that have recently started implementing a Gender Equality Plan and can demonstrate the most progress in its implementation and achieved results.

Inclusive Gender Equality Champions

Organisations that have developed the most innovative inclusive Gender Equality Plan addressing intersections with other social categories such as ethnicity, social origin, sexual orientation and gender identity (LGBTI+) or disability.

Applicants can only apply to 1 of these 3 categories.

Each prize winner will receive €100,000.

There will be 2 winners in the prize category Sustainable Gender Equality Champions, 1 winner in the prize category Newcomer Gender Equality Champions, and 1 winner in the prize category Inclusive Gender Equality Champions.

Who should apply

The prize is open to universities, higher education institutions, and research performing organisations (public or private) established in an EU country or a Horizon Europe Associated Country.

Rules of contest

Admissibility, Eligibility and Award criteria are detailed in the Rules of Contest, to be read by all applicants before submitting their application.

Rules of contest

Contact

For more information, please contact us at REA-HE-GENDER-CHAMPIONS@ec.europa.eu

APPLY HERE