STARTS Prize 2023 Open Call

Grand prize of the European Commission honoring Innovation in Technology, Industry and Society stimulated by the Arts

Posted on: 31 January 2023

S+T+ARTS is an initiative of the European Commission to foster alliances of technology and artistic practice. As part of this initiative, the S+T+ARTS Prize awards the most pioneering collaborations and results in the field of creativity and innovation at the crossings of science and technology with the arts. The S+T+ARTS Prize of the European Commission is launched by Ars Electronica and the consortium partners Bozar, Waag, INOVA+, T6 Ecosystems, French Tech Grande Provence and Frankfurter Buchmesse.

Since 2016, more than 200 projects out of 14.291 submissions from 96 different countries have been honored and a total of 280,000€ in prize money has been distributed in the S+T+ARTS Prize competition.

Science, Technology and Arts (= S+T+ARTS) form a nexus with an extraordinarily high potential for creative innovation. And such innovation is considered to be precisely what’s called for if we’re to master the social, ecological and economic challenges that Europe will be facing in the near future. The role of artists thus is no longer seen to be just about propagating scientific and technological knowledge and skills among the general public but much more as a kind of catalyst that can inspire and trigger innovative processes. The artistic practice of creative exploration and experimental appropriation of new technologies has a wide-reaching potential to contribute to the development of new products and new economic, social and business models. Accordingly, the S+T+ARTS Prize focuses on artistic works that influence or change the way we look at technology, and on innovative forms of collaboration between the ICT sector and the world of art and culture.

Two prizes will be awarded, each endowed with €20,000 euros. The “Grand Prize – Innovative Collaboration” will be awarded to projects that combine industry or technology and the arts, with the goal of opening new paths for innovation. The “Grand Prize – Artistic Exploration” will honor artistic research and works that have the potential to influence or change the way technology is used, applied or perceived. In addition, twenty eight more projects will receive a Nomination or an Honorary Mention. The winning projects, which will be announced in June, will be then featured at Ars Electronica Festival in September 2023 and other events of the consortium partners BOZAR, Waag Futurelab, INOVA+, T6 Ecosystems, French Tech Grande Provence and Frankfurt Bookfair.

Please see here the full rules and regulations for the application: https://starts-prize.aec.at/en/open-call/

Key-dates: