As part of its final conference, FRONTIERS is launching a video challenge for all journalism students enrolled in higher education institutions across Horizon Europe-associated countries.
Participants are invited to submit a short video responding to the guiding question: “What makes frontier research interesting and newsworthy?”
The best entries will be screened during the FRONTIERS final conference, in Lisbon, in April 2027. Their authors will receive free conference registration with accommodation and may be invited to contribute to a conference session.
The challenge
Every day, scientists push the boundaries of what we know; but not every discovery makes headlines, and not every headline captures what actually matters about the discovery.
This competition invites journalism students to explore that gap: what turns research at the edge of knowledge into a story people want to watch? Is it the human stakes, the surprise factor, the controversy, the “why should I care” moment?
We’re looking for short videos that go beyond simply explaining a scientific result: we want to see your take on what makes it a story, and how you’d tell it to an audience that isn’t full of scientists.
Entries are encouraged to consider journalistic independence, critical scrutiny, public interest, uncertainty, and the relationship between journalists and researchers.
Want to know more about frontier research? Check out our frontier research short course.
Eligibility
Students currently enrolled in journalism-related programmes at higher education institutions in Horizon Europe-associated countries.
Format
Participants should submit a short video according to the following guidelines:
| Orientation | Vertical |
| Duration | 60–90 seconds |
| Resolution | Full HD (1080p) or 4K |
| Language | Videos may be submitted in any language |
| Subtitles | English subtitles are mandatory |
Terms and conditions
- Each video must be submitted by a single participant.
- Only one video per applicant will be considered. If several are submitted, only the last one will be evaluated.• Each video must be submitted by a single participant.
- The video should be original and created by the applicant.
- Applicants should have permission to use any images and music included in the video.
- Applicants must consent to the use of their video, name, and affiliation for communication and dissemination purposes within the framework of FRONTIERS. This includes publishing and reproducing the video on FRONTIERS’ social media channels and website, as well as screening during the final conference.
- FRONTIERS may make minor adaptations to the video, provided they do not change its substantive content or meaning. Applicants retain all intellectual property and other rights to their video.
- Applicants confirm that all individuals featured in the video have provided their explicit written consent for the filming and screening of the video.
- Applicants consent to the collection of their personal information and video material for the purposes of participation in the Video Challenge, in accordance with GDPR rules.
- The FRONTIERS jury may exclude submissions containing discriminatory, offensive, plagiarised, or inappropriate content.
Submission
Participants should submit their video through the online form available on the FRONTIERS website (https://frontiers.media/video-challenge-form/), until 28th December 2026. The submission form will ask for:
Consent to the collection of personal information and material for the purposes of participation in the Video Challenge, in accordance with GDPR rules
- Full name
- Email address
- Study programme, institution, and country
- Video title
- Short description of the video (in English)
- Link to the video, submitted via one of the following platforms: private/unlisted YouTube link, Vimeo link, or Google Drive link
- Confirmation that the video is original
- Confirmation that the applicant has permission to use any third-party materials included in the video
- Confirmation that all individuals featured in the video have provided their explicit written consent for the filming and screening of the video
- Consent for the video to be screened at the conference and used for communication and dissemination purposes
Evaluation
A jury composed of experts from across FRONTIERS will review and score all submissions.
Jury members will be required to declare any potential conflict of interest. In case a conflict of interest is declared, the jury member will not evaluate the relevant submission.
Each jury member will independently score each video using the defined evaluation criteria and relative weights: relevance to the guiding question (40%); clarity (25%); originality (25%); technical quality (10%).
Each video’s final score will be the average of all participating jury members’ scores. Ties will be resolved by a second round of votes.
The three highest-scoring videos will be selected for screening during the conference. The jury may also award honourable mentions to non-selected videos.
Results
Selected participants and honourable mentions will be contacted by the FRONTIERS team by January 2027.
The three finalists will be invited to the final conference in Lisbon (April 6 and 7, 2027). FRONTIERS will cover registration to the conference (including coffee breaks and lunch) and two nights’ accommodation in Lisbon.
Finalists will see their videos screened during the conference and may be invited to contribute further to a conference session.
The conference-selected videos and videos with honourable mentions will be shared on FRONTIERS social networks.
Questions? For any queries about the challenge, contact info@frontiersmedia.eu.