Early-bird registration deadline: 21st April 2026

Call for ESSSAT Prizes

Call for Submissions for the 2026 ESSSAT Prizes

At the ECST XXI, the winners of the two ESSSAT prizes for 2026 will be announced. These are an open competition for early career scholars working in Europe.
The ESSSAT Research Prize (of 2500 €) will be awarded for an outstanding original contribution at book length, e.g., a doctoral thesis, submitted before 31 January 2026.
The ESSSAT Student Prize (of 1500 €) will be awarded for an essay of a maximum of 10,000 words, written by an undergraduate or postgraduate student, submitted before 31 January 2026.

Submissions can address any aspect of the interface between religion/theology and the natural sciences and should exemplify the aims of ESSSAT. The submissions will be evaluated based on their originality, quality, and relevance. Candidates for both the Research and Student Prizes must be nominated by a senior faculty member of a university or similar institution of higher education in Europe. ESSSAT member is not required. The work must be based on research done in Europe (with allowance for a period of research elsewhere of at most one year), and have been accepted for academic credit, presented, or published in 2024-2026. It may be in any major European language. It need not have been published.

The prizes will be presented to the winners at ESCT XXI in Leeds, U.K. in August 19-22, 2026. The prizes will be required to attend the conference, and their costs for attendance will be covered by ESSSAT.
Submissions should be emailed to Dr Jaime Tatay (ESSAY Prize Officer) as a pdf-file along with:
  • (a) A brief curriculum vitae of the author (stating nationality),
  • (b) A letter of nomination from a senior faculty member
  • (c) For the Research Prize, a 10-page summary of the work in English
    (1.5 line spacing, font size 12) is also required.
Submitted material will not be returned.

Don't forget, international attendees now need a ETIAS visa to travel to the UK