Recherchepreis Osteuropa

Strengthening reporting on Eastern Europe: That is the idea behind the ‘Research Prize for Eastern Europe’. It is awarded by the Protestant organisation Aktion Hoffnung für Osteuropa and the Catholic organisation Renovabis. The co-operation partner is the transnational network n-ost. The money is used to fund time-consuming research into social reports from the countries of Central, South-Eastern and Eastern Europe. The aim is to take a look at people's everyday lives, to address how they deal with social upheaval and to show the living conditions of marginalised groups.

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Recherchepreis Osteuropa 2025 – apply now

Aid organisations sponsor research prize for in-depth reporting on the lives of people in Eastern Europe.
Application deadline is 15 January 2025.

Freising/Stuttgart. Strengthening reporting on Eastern Europe: That is the aim of the Eastern Europe Research Prize. The prize, awarded by Hope for Eastern Europe and Renovabis in cooperation with the European journalism network n-ost in the form of a scholarship, enables outstanding journalists to research and produce time-consuming and travel-intensive print reports for German-language media.

Matthias Rose from Diakonie Württemberg emphasises: ‘The research prize makes social challenges visible and shows not only the problems facing societies in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, but also the potential of committed people there. At the same time, it strengthens critical reporting on topics that are often overlooked. This initiative makes it possible to expand journalistic networks and intensify the mutual learning process.’

Matthias Dörr from Renovabis explains: ‘We want to encourage journalists to delve deep into stories that bring us closer to Eastern Europe. The research prize makes it possible to visualise the diverse realities of this region beyond the headlines and stereotypes.’

‘And this diversity can be captured particularly well when several journalists from different countries work together across borders,’ adds Anneke Hudalla, Project Manager at n-ost. ‘We experienced this impressively at the award ceremony in autumn 2024.’

The Research Prize for Eastern Europe will be awarded for the twelfth time in 2025. It supports research into social reportage from Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe that focuses on social and political developments and takes a look at people's everyday lives. The prize is endowed with up to 7,000 euros.

A jury of renowned journalists and representatives of the awarding organisations will decide on the awarding of the scholarship.
Award ceremony 2024

from left: Dr. Anneke Hudalla (n-ost), Moderatorin Renate Krekeler-Koch (Renovabis-Büro Berlin), Sonja Zekri (Journalistin SZ), Pfarrer Prof. Dr. Thomas Schwartz (Renovabis), Danil Usmanov, Emilia Sulek, Matthias Rose (Diakonisches Werk Württemberg) und Anna Alboth.

The winners of this year's Research Prize for Eastern Europe have been announced: The research projects of the two teams Emilia Sulek and Danil Usmanov as well as Anna Alboth and Nadine Wojcik have won. The award ceremony took place on 24 October at the Catholic Academy in Berlin.

A seven-member jury, consisting of representatives of the sponsoring organisations and renowned journalists such as Dr Christian Böhme (Tagesspiegel), Petra Bornhöft (taz-Panther-Stiftung), Kerstin Holm (FAZ) and Sonja Zekri (SZ), selected two outstanding projects from 30 submissions to receive a total of 7,000 euros in funding.

Emilia Sulek and Danil Usmanov investigate the living conditions of children from the marginalised Roma minority in a care centre for disabled girls and boys in Vilshany, Ukraine. The aim of the research is to show life in and around the children's home and the efforts to break with the inglorious tradition of the Soviet care system and to open up to the world while the war is raging in the country. The jury praised the project as a profound and urgently needed narrative that not only draws attention to grievances, but also recognises civil society's commitment to change.
The project by Anna Alboth and Nadine Wojcik was also honoured. They document the situation of refugee women on the Polish EU border with Belarus and the role of local helpers. In a panel discussion entitled ‘European Union XXL - Enlargement plans between geopolitics and the need for reform’, those present discussed the possible enlargements of the European Union.

The prize is awarded annually by Renovabis and ‘Hope for Eastern Europe’ in cooperation with n-ost. It is intended to strengthen reporting from Central, South-Eastern and Eastern Europe.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

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Application criteria and documents for the current prize

The application phase for the Research Prize Eastern Europe 2025 is now open. Interested journalists are invited to submit their research projects that deal with topics from Eastern Europe.

How to apply

The application deadline for the Research Award Eastern Europe 2025 is 15 January 2025! The following documents are required:

Exposé (1-2 pages)
Research plan (1-2 pages) and budget
Curriculum vitae in tabular form
Three previously published work samples

Please send these documents digitally only to: info@recherchepreis-osteuropa.de

📄 Call for applications 2025 📄 Research and budget plan

Closing date for submissions: 15.01.2025

Questions and answers:

Diakonie Württemberg/Hoffnung für Osteuropa

Pétur Thorsteinsson

+49 711 1656-282

thorsteinsson.p@diakonie-wuerttemberg.de
Renovabis

Simon Korbella

+49 8161 5309-14

sk@renovabis.de

Award winners

Emilia Sulek & Danil Usamnov

2024

Nur die Entschlossensten bleiben in Wilschany

‘For over two years, a brutal war has been raging in Ukraine in violation of international law. Far from the front line, however, there is another battle: publicising the conditions in care homes for children and young people, such as the one we will be visiting in Vilshany in Transcarpathia. Ukraine has been trying for years to implement a deinstitutionalisation reform. In Vilshany, this is a bottom-up process. Most of the residents of the home are disabled Roma children who experience a double marginalisation. Being here and documenting the struggle for a better everyday life and the heroism of those who are committed to it despite difficult working conditions is our small contribution to the discussion about what childcare should look like in post-war Ukraine.’

Anna Alboth & Nadine Wojcik

2024

Aus Frauensicht: Alltag an der polnischen EU-Außengrenze

„Stellen Sie sich vor, sie sitzen abends gemütlich mit ihrer Familie vorm Fernsehen und hören Hilfeschreie aus dem angrenzenden Wald. Seit drei Jahren ist das Alltag in ostpolnischen Dörfern. Redaktionen im nur 750 Kilometer entfernten Berlin winken ab: Flüchtlinge an der polnisch-belarussischen Grenze - was ist denn da die Neuigkeit? Tatsächlich haben sich an der dramatischen Situation und den Menschenrechtsverletzungen seit 2021 erschreckend wenig geändert. Für mich genau der Grund, warum ich im polnischen Podlasie recherchieren möchte - mit Zeit und ausreichendem Reisebudget, wie es für mich als freiberufliche Journalistin sonst nicht möglich ist.“

2023	Irina Peter	Kleine Schritte in Armenien
2023	Kolja Haaf	Wenn Adler flügge werden
2021	Stefan Schocher & Matthias Schumann	Verteilung von Corona-Impfstoff – ein Werkzeug der internationalen Politik?
2020	Nathalie Bertrams & Ingrid Gercama	Schneeglöckchen aus Georgien	Dokumentation Arte
2019	Robert Putzbach, Johanna-Maria Fritz und Philip Jokić	Sozialreportage: Brain-Drain von Pflegekräften aus Serbien und Bosnien-Herzegowina
2019	Julia Lauter & Holger Fröhlich	Kinder des Umbruchs	TAZ
2018	Martin Theis & Fabian Weiss	Tropfen auf den heißen Torf	Greenpeace-Magazin
2017	Oliver Bilger & Ekaterina Anokhina	Die Überlebenden von Majak	Cicero, NZZ, ostpol
2017	Olivia Kortas	Ungarn - Wenn Rechtspopulisten regieren	Frankfurter Rundschau
2016	Simone Brunner & Florian Bachmeier	Jugend in Trümmern
2016	Merle Hilbk & Andrey Sosnin	Je weniger man weiß, desto besser schläft man
2015	Inna Hartwich	Arbeitsmitgranten in Moskau
2016	Diana Laarz & Fabian Weiss	Putin ante Portas
2015	Astrid Viciano	Nach der Stille

About us

The Research Award Eastern Europe is a cooperation between Renovabis, Diakonie Württemberg/Hoffnung für Osteuropa and n-ost. These three partners join forces to promote and support reporting on Eastern Europe.

The Jury

The jury for the Research Prize for Eastern Europe is made up of renowned experts with in-depth knowledge and many years of experience in reporting on Eastern Europe.

Dr. Christian Böhme

Deputy Head of International Politics at Tagesspiegel

The world has become confusing. That is why it is becoming increasingly important to take a closer look - especially where there is a lack of attention, even though it is so important. This also and especially applies to Eastern Europe. The research prize enables stories that are worth being told by reporters.

Petra Bornhöft

Freelance journalist, formerly with taz and DER SPIEGEL

Journalists with a wealth of knowledge and surprising ideas repeatedly apply for the research prize. They shed light on problems that often go unnoticed but are important for the whole of Europe - and are increasingly looking for constructive solutions. It is a great pleasure for the jury to weigh up fairly which project could bring the greatest gain in knowledge for media users.

Matthias Dörr

Head of the Communication and Cooperation Department at Renovabis

I am particularly fascinated by the short stories from Eastern Europe with committed protagonists. They say a lot about the societal and social realities that the research prize opens up access to.

Kerstin Holm

Journalist (formerly FAZ) and author

Young journalists are interested in topics from Eastern Europe and are attracted by the difficult and resistant. The research prize draws attention to this important region, promotes understanding and cooperation and enables valuable reports that might otherwise not be possible. It is an honour to sit on the jury.

Dr. Anneke Hudalla

Journalist network n-ost

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which came as a surprise to many, has shown once again: We know far too little about what is going on in Eastern Europe. The research prize not only promotes reporting on topics that otherwise receive little attention. It also supports cooperation between journalists from EU and non-EU countries. This is exactly the kind of journalism we need in Europe.

Diakon Matthias Rose

Deputy Chairman of the Allocation Committee of the Protestant campaign ‘Hoffung für Osteuropa’ at Diakonisches Werk Württemberg.

Our commitment is solidarity in action in a Europe of different conditions, events and burdens. The jointly awarded research prize always opens up new perspectives.

Sonja Zekri

Journalist (Süddeutsche Zeitung) and author

In times of dwindling solidarity, the Research Prize for Eastern Europe draws attention to the weakest, the forgotten, but also to those who do not want to accept this. The applicants include many strong projects committed to humanism and truthfulness. This jury is a pleasure.

Contact

If you have any questions about the Recherchepreis Osteuropa or how to submit your application, please contact:

Diakonie Württemberg/Hoffnung für Osteuropa

Pétur Thorsteinsson

+49 711 1656-282

thorsteinsson.p@diakonie-wuerttemberg.de
Renovabis

Simon Korbella

+49 8161 5309-14

sk@renovabis.de

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