Eight ERC Grantees receive ERC Public Engagement Award

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded its 2026 Public Engagement with Research Awards to eight ERC grantees for their outstanding work in engaging audiences beyond academia with their research. This year’s winners have found creative ways to involve people in research and bring scientific knowledge into public debate, from citizen science on forests, and on women’s health to theatre exploring artificial intelligence in healthcare.

The European Research Council (ERC) awards recognise outstanding science communicators among the grantees who successfully engage audiences outside their domain. The purpose of the award is also to show good practice in science communication and to encourage more ERC-funded researchers to develop public engagement activities. This is the fourth edition of the awards, first launched in 2019. 

The laureates will discuss what they have learnt from their public engagement work at a dedicated session during the European Research and Innovation Days in Brussels in November.

The winners of the ERC's 2026 Public Engagement Award are:

• Elaine Chew, King’s College London, awarded ‘for a boundary-spanning and truly interdisciplinary approach reaching millions of ears and hearts.’
• Katalin Csilléry, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research WSL, awarded ‘for sowing the seeds of a European-wide network of foresters and transforming forests into living laboratories to shape scientific discovery.’
• Konstantina Kilteni, Karolinska Institute and Donders Institute, awarded ‘for transforming a universal and seemingly trivial experience into serious scientific insights through dialogue and laughter.’
• Prabha Kotiswaran, King’s College London, awarded ‘for bringing visibility to women’s invisible labour in India, shaping societal change from primary school to Supreme Court rulings.’
• Sarah Lebeer, University of Antwerp, awarded ‘for taking us on a participatory journey into how bonobos, vaginas, strawberries and kimchi are unexpectedly connected through microbiomes.’
• Karim Lekadir, University of Barcelona, awarded ‘for his respect, trust-building and culturally sensitive choice of channels in engaging women in local communities, who claimed the project as their own.’
• Valeria Pulignano, KU Leuven, was awarded ‘for bringing the unheard voices of delivery drivers and platform workers to influence EU laws.’
• Roanne van Voorst, University of Amsterdam, awarded ‘for her highly original use of a co-created theatre experience to voice ethical AI dilemmas in healthcare.’

In the 2026 ERC Public Engagement with Research Awards contest, 110 applications from 26 countries were submitted. An independent jury of experts in public engagement and science communication selected the eight winners. Each laureate receives a prize of €10.000. Previous editions took place in 2020, 2022 and 2024. 

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