Award for Final These in Design and Media

With the Different Brilliant Award, USTP – University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten awards a prize for innovative bachelor and master theses in the fields of design, media, and digital technologies. It is endowed with 500 EUR and is aimed at students and graduates of Austrian higher education institutions and USTP’s international partner universities. Submissions will be accepted until 18 September.

USTP is looking for theses that open up new perspectives through creative, theoretical, empirical, or experimental research approaches and that contribute to solving societal or technological challenges. Whether it is a design experiment, a prototype, a research-through-design project, applied research, or an innovative method: We are looking for ideas that challenge existing ways of thinking.

The call addresses students and graduates of Austrian universities and other higher education institutions as well as international partner universities of USTP. The deadline for submissions is 18 September 2026.

Finale to Take Place at International Specialist Conference of USTP

The submissions will be assessed through a peer review by experts from the Academic Design Network Austria (aDNA). The best ones will be invited for presentation at the 8^th International Conference on Creative Media Technologies (IConCMT) of USTP where the three finalists will introduce their works to an international specialist audience. The winner will receive prize money in the amount of 500 EUR.

“Alongside traditional methods such as surveys and interviews with experts, students also work with new, practice-led, and hybrid approaches and perspectives. Design research shows that knowledge can be generated not only through empirical data collection, but also through design and artistic practice. Research in the fields of media, design, and creation therefore combines different forms of understanding, development, and reflection”, says Rosa von Suess, Academic Director of USTP’s bachelor degree programme Media Technology which issues the award.

“Different Brilliant invites students to explore their own research practices, critically reflect on them, and develop them further. We also want to use the award to make students’ research work visible. The Different Brilliant Award recognises students and graduates whose work opens up new perspectives and helps shape the future”, adds Rosa von Suess.

Different Brilliant Award

At USTP, knowledge is created at the intersection of scientific methods, creative practice, and real-world challenges. The Different Brilliant Award highlights how students and graduates use this to develop new perspectives, insights, and approaches to solutions.

This year marks the fifth edition of the Different Brilliant Award. The initiative recognises and honours outstanding best practice examples as well as innovative design-related bachelor and master theses. In doing so, it provides insights into application-oriented and artistic research approaches at the diverse intersections of media and design.

“Higher education has a responsibility that extends beyond the lecture hall: to support people in developing evidence-based solutions to the challenges of our time and to create added value for society through applied research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and creative practice”, explains von Suess.

• Further Information and Submission