The Agroecological Crop Protection International Initiative (ACPI) is pleased to announce its 2026 Students’ project awards.
Students (until and including PhD candidates) are invited to submit their proposals. All submitted projects will be evaluated by an international jury. Up to three projects will be selected and presented by the student teams during a dedicated scientific session at the joint COST/ACPI event held at JKI, Berlin (8–12 June 2026).
The authors of the successful project will receive:
- The ACPI Student Award in Berlin,
- Funding for an international scientific stay in a host laboratory of their choice within the network,
- Support from ACPI to further develop or showcase within the next two years.
What types of projects is the ACPI looking for?
We are looking for projects authored by individuals or teams of one to three students. These teams may be interdisciplinary and/or composed of students from different institutions and countries. The submitted projects may consist of:
- The design and description of a realistic yet innovative prototype of a place-based food system, involving local actors and relying on agroecological crop protection strategies. These prototypes should be inspired by a real territory chosen by the students and should represent a desirable future evolution of this area, improving their economic, environmental, and social sustainability.
- A case study, i.e. a critical analysis of a food system selected by the students, combined with proposals for its further development—focusing in particular on agroecological crop protection—to enhance its sustainability.
Eligibility:
We encourage all students to apply although a connection to any of the networks: ACPI, the COST action T0PAGRI, EU partnership agroecology and the ACROPICS project is preferred. To apply, candidates must be formally enrolled in an educational institution (e.g. a university) and must not yet hold a PhD degree.
Selection process:
The evaluation and selection of student projects will take place in several stages:
- Submission of a brief letter of intent (maximum 2 pages) by 8 February 2026.
- Selection of up to 8 student groups by the international jury by 15 February 2026.
- Submission of the full project by 15 April 2026.
- The international jury will select up to three projects by the end of April 2026.
- The authors of these projects will be formally invited to travel to Berlin to present their work at the COST T0PAGRI / ACPI international event at JKI on 9–11 June 2026.
The project format is intentionally left open to encourage creativity. Regardless of the format, submissions should clearly describe the context, objectives, proposed actions or prototype, and the expected impacts. However, submissions should remain concise (e.g. if structured as a manuscript, they should not exceed approximately 20-25 pages).
Evaluation criteria:
- Creativity, long-term and broad vision,
- A place-based approach grounded in agroecology and aligned with the “towards zero-pesticide” research and innovation paradigm,
- Balance between ideas/proposals firmly rooted in reality, and more forward-looking creative ideas/proposals,
- Proposals enabling collective engagement and empowerment of the actors of the considered geographical area.
- Thorough analysis of how context-dependent proposals and methods are.
- Sound and relevant evaluation of risks related to implementation, feasibility, or unintended impacts, etc.
How to apply:
Complete the application form available at https://sondages.inrae.fr/index.php/331441?lang=en no later than 8 February 2026.
The form will enable you to submit a letter of intent for the ACPI students' project awards.
Submission should be submitted no later than 8 February 2026.
There are 24 questions in this survey.
