General
- To participate in the S+T+ARTS Prize, you must register online and submit all mandatory information online. A submission is complete and formally entered in the competition only if all information has been entered online and the submission has been finalized online. An entry confirmation will be sent out via e-mail as soon as all required documentation has been received.
- Every submitted project must be, at the time of its submission, either totally completed or far enough along for the jury to be able to assess its quality and the likelihood of it being successfully implemented. The same applies to collaborative arrangements—at the time they’re submitted, they must already be up-and-running and in the implementation stage. No consideration will be given to entries that are purely concepts, ideas or proposals for collaboration.
- Projects should not be older than two years or have to show a significant update or further development within the last two years.
- There is no fee to enter the S+T+ARTS Prize 2025 competition.
- An artist may submit more than one work.
- If your entry is awarded a prize, your material will be used for the catalog, DVD (CD) and the STARTS Prize website or any communication purpose from Ars Electronica, INOVA+, French Tech Grand Provence, Media Solutions Center Baden-Württemberg, HLRS High Performance Computer Center Stuttgart, Salzburg Festival, Sonar, T6Ecosystems, Kustodie at TUD Dresden University of Technology or the European Union (see Rights), so we ask you to prepare your picture and text material carefully.
- If you send in additional material pertaining to your submission via post, please mail it by the submission deadline (date of postmark is determinative) to:
Ars Electronica Linz GmbH & Co KG
Ars-Electronica-Straße 1
4040 Linz, Austria
Code: S+T+ARTS Prize
S+T+ARTS Prize + Prix Ars Electronica
Every submission to the S+T+ARTS Prize competition can also be entered for Prix Ars Electronica prize consideration and vice versa. In other words, it’s possible for a single project to win both the S+T+ARTS Prize 2025 as well as a Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica grand prize. How does this work? It’s totally easy—at the end of your Prix Ars Electronica online submission, simply check the appropriate box.
S+T+ARTS Prize + European Union Citizen Science Prize
Every submission to the S+T+ARTS Prize competition can also be entered for the European Union Prize for Citizen Science. The Prize competition is open to Citizen Science Initiatives in the European Research Area. This includes the European Union, all overseas countries and territories linked to EU member states, and all third countries associated to or currently negotiating an association agreement with Horizon Europe (for the 2025 iteration of the Prize: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom). How does this work? It’s totally easy—at the end of your S+T+ARTS Prize online submission, simply check the appropriate box and fill in the information in the fields that appear additionally.
Required Materials
- A video documentary (approximately 3 minutes in length)
- Images (JPG, TIF, BMP, PNG) at the highest possible resolution; compressed files (such as .zip or .lzh files) are not accepted.
- A clear, detailed description of the artistic concept, the form of interaction and technical implementation; since specific prerequisites have to be fulfilled for an onsite presentation to take place (e.g. in conjunction with the Ars Electronica Festival), the project’s specifications as to hardware & software and spatial requirements should be as detailed as possible. Moreover, the entrant must specify what he/she can provide on his/her own in order to stage such an onsite presentation, and what must necessarily be furnished by Ars Electronica Linz.
- A printable portrait photo and a biography of the artist.
- At the entrant’s option, additional material such as images, documents and drawings (as PNG or PDF) can also be submitted.
- The submitters are asked not to physically submit irreplaceable originals, as the entered material cannot be returned.
Schedule
- The S+T+ARTS Prize open call period starts on January 7, 2025 and ends on March 5, 2025. During this period the open call platform can be accessed at https://starts-prize-call.aec.at/2025/
- Jury sessions (April 10 – April 13, 2025): All entries will be judged by a jury of experts in the order of their arrival. In addition to the works entered by participants, each jury may also nominate other works. The jury members will be announced by Ars Electronica. The jury’s decision is final.
- Notification: Winners of the S+T+ARTS Prize will be notified by mid-May 2025 at the latest. (Ars Electronica only sends out notifications if the project is selected for a prize.) In the interest of all entrants, we request that the entrant (or a representative named by him/her) be available during the period when winners will be notified via the contact specified in the entry form.
- Payment: The winning artist(s) will receive prize money of €20,000. This amount is to be paid by direct bank deposit, after the Ars Electronica Festival 2025 and upon presentation of an invoice stating “Prize Money S+T+ARTS Prize 2025”. This is the only method by which Ars Electronica can transfer funds. The prize money can be paid as a net amount only if, approximately one week prior to the exhibition, Ars Electronica is provided with the original signed form ZS-QU1 (ZS-QU2 for legal entities); officially confirmed from the foreign tax authorities. Without this confirmation, Ars Electronica will be unable to pay the fee as a net amount and under international tax laws will have to retain 20% withholding tax (subject to any change in the rate of tax).
Submission Process
To ensure a high diversity of submissions, the S+T+ARTS Prize works with a dual approach for submissions.
- Submission via open call: The S+T+ARTS Prize aims to showcase and celebrate visions and achievements at the interface between innovation and creation—driven by both science/technology and the Arts. The submission is open to all forms of artistic work and all types of technological and scientific research and development.
- Recommendations through international advisors: 15 international advisors who have reputation and credibility in the field will recommend projects and help to encourage wider ranges of participants as well as a geographical and gender balance. These recommended projects will be contacted by the organizers and asked to submit their project via the submission platform. So the same process and deadlines will be applied as for the open submissions. The international advisors serve as facilitators to identify relevant works and projects during the submission process. However, they will not be part of the jury meeting and therefore will not have voting rights.
Jury Process
- Nomination through the Juries of the Prix Ars Electronica categories: Since the Prix Ars Electronica’s main categories focus explicitly on art and technology, the submissions made in these categories correspond exactly to the criteria of the S+T+ARTS Prize. Projects submitted for a Prix Ars Electronica category are therefore also eligible for consideration for the S+T+ARTS Prize. The juries will nominate a number of projects per Prix Ars Electronica category for the S+T+ARTS Prize.
- Nomination through the Juries of the European Union Prize for Citizen Sceince: Projects submitted for the European Union Prize for Citizen Science and expressed their will to submit for the S+T+ARTS Prize simultaneously are therefore also considered for the S+T+ARTS Prize. The juries will nominate a number of projects for the S+T+ARTS Prize.
- All eligible projects will be judged by the S+T+ARTS Prize Jury. They will determine 30 finalist projects, from which the two prize-winning projects and up to ten honorary mentions are chosen. The jury consists of internationally distinguished personalities from the fields of business, science and the arts. In addition to the works entered by participants, each jury member may also nominate other works. The jury decision is final.
Presentations
- Awards Ceremony and Symposium: The S+T+ARTS Prize award presentation will take place during the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz. Winners of the S+T+ARTS Prize make a commitment to accept their awards in person and to present their works at the S+T+ARTS Prize Forum. Groups and institutions are requested to nominate a representative to fulfill this commitment.
- Exhibition: If the submitted work is awarded with the Grand Prize by the jury the artist is committed to present the submitted work at the Ars Electronica Festival 2025. If the submitted work is nominated or honored by the jury, it can be selected to be further presented at Ars Electronica Festival 2025. As every submitted project must be, at the time of its submission, either totally completed or far enough along for the jury to be able to assess its quality and the likelihood of it being successfully implemented, no additional costs of producing an exhibition-ready version can be considered, Ars Electronica will only cover transportation and installation costs, as well as artist fee according to Ars Electronica’s fair payment guideline.
Contact
Ars Electronica Linz GmbH & Co KG
Ars-Electronica-Straße 1
4040 Linz, Austria
Code: S+T+ARTS Prize
Project producer: Masha Zolotova
masha.zolotova@ars.electronica.art