31.08.2026
Further information
Signe Toomla
coordinator
ETAG

Submit your outstanding thesis to National Contest for University Students

The Estonian Research Council (ETAG) invites students to participate in the 2026 National Contest for University Students. The last day for submissions is 15 September. This year, the total prize fund exceeds €200,000.

The National Contest for University Students aims to encourage greater student engagement in research and acknowledge those who have achieved outstanding results in their work. Students from all fields of study are welcome to participate, and national prizes are awarded in six fields: natural sciences, engineering and technology, medical and health sciences, agricultural sciences and veterinary sciences, social sciences, and humanities and the arts. Theses of all levels of study can be submitted: professional higher education and bachelor’s studies, master’s studies, and doctoral studies.

Complete graduation theses defended in 2025 or 2026 may be submitted. The thesis must be in Estonian. As an exception, theses in a foreign language are also permitted, provided they are accompanied by a three-page summary in Estonian. A national contest committee assesses the submissions.

The prize fund for the national prizes is €112,900. In addition, special prizes worth more than €93,000 will be awarded by the contest’s partners: the Ministry of Education and Research, the President of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, the fund for constitutional law of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, the Under and Tuglas Literary Institute of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, the Ministry of Climate, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Government Office, the National Heritage Board, the Family Foundation (Pere Sihtkapital), the Chancellery of the Riigikogu, the Foundation of Marine Culture of Captain Uno Laur, the Information System Authority, the Integration Foundation, and MTÜ Loodusajakiri.

Submissions are open until 15 September via ETAG’s competition platform konkursid.etag.ee. For more information, see the ETAG’s website.

The results of the contest will be published in the information channels of the Estonian Research Council and the Ministry of Education and Research. The prizes will be presented at an invitation-only award ceremony in December.

The National Contest for University Students is organised by the Estonian Research Council and the Ministry of Education and Research. Prizes have been awarded since 2002.

Further information on the website of Estonian Research Council

Submit your thesis to the national contest for university students