Yesterday, the winners of the 2025 EU Prize for Citizen Science were announced. Out of the 409 applications, three citizen science initiatives received the main prizes and 27 were recognised with honorary mentions.
The winners are:
- The ‘Grand Prize’, worth €60,000, goes to the project HEROINES for the impressive inclusion of Roma women in the process of empowering their emancipation in Serbia, by developing a community mapping tool to gather rarely shared oral stories and co-produce knowledge difficult to obtain by other means.
- The Digital Communities prize, worth €20,000, is awarded to Antiquake Risk Hunter Community for involving a wide range of actors, including residents of a neighborhood in Istanbul, to foster disaster preparedness by collecting geolocated data using open-source tools.
- The Diversity & Collaboration prize, worth €20,000, is given to Museum of Food Waste - MoFWaste for engaging with students, educators, and school canteen staff in Portugal and making children owners of the project to reduce and prevent food waste, with methods and activities easily replicable elsewhere.
Ekaterina Zaharieva, Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, said:
“Across Europe, citizens are stepping up to collect data, ask questions, and help solve real-world problems. The winners of this year’s EU Prize for Citizen Science show that science can thrive when everyone – including groups that are often less heard – gets involved.”
The Prize is awarded by the Horizon Europe project IMPETUS, as part of its work to support and give recognition to citizen science. The winners were selected by an independent jury of five experts.
The participation of citizens in scientific research activities “is growing in maturity with an increasing number of projects delving into local issues and coming from social sciences and humanities,” said the jury.
The jury also noted that while recurring topics such as biodiversity, air quality, and litter monitoring remained relevant, there was increased public engagement in new areas including disaster risk reduction, food security, healthcare provision, energy transition, and oral and urban histories.
Several applications came from projects that involved groups who are too often marginalised from the processes of knowledge-making, demonstrating the value of collaborating with citizens across all stages of research.
Background
This is the third edition of the EU Prize for Citizen Science. The prize recognises outstanding initiatives that enact change, expand knowledge, and address social, political, cultural, and environmental challenges through the involvement of citizens in research and innovation. For this edition, the Award received 409 applications from 58 countries.
Public engagement in scientific research activities have the potential to improve the excellence and impact of research, and to deepen the relationship and trust between science and our societies. Horizon Europe promotes co-creation and co-design through the engagement of citizens and civil society. Opening research to society is one of its programme principles and operational objectives.
HEROINES - Heritage of Emancipation: Empowering Roma Women through Networks of Solidarity
This initiative gives a voice to Europe’s largest ethnic minority, who are often victims of prejudice and social exclusion. The project works in understanding the process of emancipation of Roma women in Serbia through participatory research and data collection of rarely shared oral stories and individual experiences in the cities of Belgrade, Kostolac, and Pirot.
To do so, the project developed a community mapping methodology and a manual that, according to the Prize’s jury, “represents an innovative contribution to the Citizen Science landscape.” Together with two Roma community-based partners, the project gathered a diverse variety of opinions, facilitated a broad societal reflection and contributed to enriching the scientific discourse on the topic.
Antiquake Risk Hunter Community
A historic neighborhood in Istanbul is now better prepared for natural disasters due to this initiative. Launched by residents and involving over 150 citizen scientists and a wide variety of actors - including schools, municipal authorities and disaster management professionals - identified risk zones and mapped vulnerabilities collecting geolocated data using open-source tools.
Youth engagement played a central role, with students designing accessible emergency information materials. The project’s approach to capacity building, community engagement, and open data can be replicated in other contexts.
MoFWaste – The Museum of Food Waste
Students, educators, and school canteen staff in Esposende, Portugal, worked together to identify, measure, and reduce food waste. Students were empowered to take full ownership of the process, actively participating in both data collection and analysis. Activities include hands-on workshops on composting, fruit preservation, and sustainable cooking, alongside interactive games and exhibitions.
The project goes beyond raising awareness by co-creating and implementing actionable strategies in collaboration with diverse stakeholders. The jury noted that “the project serves as an advocacy tool to influence school boards and local policy” on food security and consumer consumption habits. Monitoring kits, educational materials, and collected data are available, and can be easily replicated across regions.
More information
Announcement of the 2025 EU Prize for Citizens Science’s winners
2025 EU Prize for Citizens Science’s winners and honorary mentions
2024 EU Prize for Citizen Science’s winners and honorary mentions
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Details
- Publication date
- 20 June 2025
- Author
- Directorate-General for Research and Innovation