Awards: Spotlight on Our Creative Students
Golden Wire and Different Brilliant Prizes Awarded
USTP – University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten made itself a name for its student media awards in recent years. In the last week of November, USTP awarded a total of two prizes for outstanding projects and final theses: The Department of Media and Digital Technologies’ ‘Golden Wire’ honours innovative student project, whereas the ‘Different Brilliant’ award recognises excellent final theses.
Golden Wire: Best Student and Graduate Projects in Film and Media Awarded
USTP’s Media Prize Golden Wire was awarded the 20th time in end-November. An international jury of experts acknowledged outstanding projects of students and graduates of the Department of Media & Digital Technologies in eight categories (Animation, Sound & Music, Documentary & TV-Production, Interactive, Short Film, Content Creation & Production, Visual Art & Design, Alumni Projects, Audience Award). For the very first time, the E³UDRES² Special Award was also held on this occasion. The projects were presented and awarded during a final glamorous gala evening.
“Implementing projects is a key educational objective in our study programmes, and celebrating the results together with our students, our jury and our partners is a tremendous occasion for us,” says Golden Wire project leader Rosa von Suess, speaking on behalf of her team.
“The diversity and quality of this year’s projects impressively demonstrate how vibrant and innovative the media landscape is,” explains Franz Fidler, Head of the Faculty of Business and Engineering at USTP.
“The finalists are among the best and they were given special recognition at the evening gala. For me, they showcase what makes the studies at USTP so unique,” says Alois Frotschnig, Chairperson of the USTP Board.
Golden Wire Award Winners 2025
In selecting the winners, not only the technical execution but, above all, compelling storytelling played a central role. These are the award-winning projects by category:
- Animation: Oida
Project team: Elisa, Breitenbrunner, Silvana, Kuenz, Michelle, Heiduk, Mathias, Maier, Jakob, Moisl - Sound & Music: Mariensäule | Orchestral Recording
Project team: Pascal Bruckner, Sebastian Heiden, Christoph Schacherl - Documentary & TV-Production: Letzte Reihe Mitte
Project team: Laura Akermann, Andrea Bindreiter, Christoph Buchinger Lucie Debnam, Judith Knell, Sarah Lackner, Lilli Lanske, Paul Lutz, Paul Schleimer - Interactive: Pollucean
Project team: Julian Neuhauser, Alena Boucher, David Tirnanic, Florian Marjanov, Samuel Jessop - Short Film: Deo Volente
Project team: Sophie Schattauer, Jonas Vasicek, Philipp Lenk, Katja Radler, Alicia Wach, Hoa Nguyễn-Thi-Minh, Alexander Steininger, Fiona Haunold, Sophie Birnbaum, Leo Beckstein, Lilli Lanske, Kilian Schillein, Rene Schmidt, Jakob Mayr, Marlene Haberl, Thomas Kreutzwiesner, Vanessa Emde, Lukas Topf - Content Creation & Production: Der kleine Tod – Cross-Media Content Creation
Project team: Jennifer Gartler, Nomi Ruprecht, Helene Sorger, Magdalena Seibert, Katja Reichör - Visual Art & Design: In welcher Zukunft willst du leben?
Project lead: Elias van Gils - Alumni Projects: Wir schwenkten keine Fahnen
Project team: Tanja Ploner, Helene Sorger, Johannes Arnold, Daniela Diesner, Marlene Haberl, Magdalena Seibert
First Presentation of the E³UDRES² Special Award at the Golden Wire
For the first time, projects in the E³UDRES² Special Award category were also recognised this year. Students from the European University Alliance E³UDRES² – an alliance of nine partner universities led by USTP – were invited to submit their work. Covering formats from documentaries to interactive experiences, this award celebrates projects that truly embody the European spirit.
The winners are:
- 1st place: Wir schwenkten keine Fahnen
Project lead: Tanja Ploner - 2nd place: Lebenslieder
Project team: Markus Wiesinger, Ngoc Nguyen, Gregor Baumschlager, Ludwig Merza - 3rd place: Gemeinde Österreich
Project lead: Nico Brandstetter
The Audience Award was claimed by Markus Wiesinger, Ngoc Nguyen, Gregor Baumschlager and Ludwig Merza with their documentary project about Eva Wannerer’s Lebenslieder.
Golden Wire: Cooperation Partners
The prizes for the winners were sponsored by our cooperation partners: Big Blue Marble, Ableton, AV- Professional, WKO Abteilung Film- und Musikwirtschaft – Österreich, Förderverein, Stadt St. Pölten, ÖH USTP, Accent Gründerservice, E³UDRES², Rosmarin.
Winners Different Brilliant / Photo: Nathalie Hutter
Different Brilliant: Award for Final Theses
As part of the International Conference on Creative\Media/Technologies (IConCMT), held during the last week of November, the degree programme Media Technology at USTP presented the Different Brilliant Award 2025 for outstanding bachelor or master theses that exemplify applied and artistic research projects in design and media production.
The winners are:
- 1st place: Helena Opower (FH Joanneum / Master Interaction Design)
In her master thesis, she examined how social media platforms can be designed responsibly and tailored to young people, with the aim of better addressing teenagers’ needs while ensuring their protection. - 2nd place: Elias Van-Gils (USTP / Bachelor Media Technology)
In his bachelor thesis, he explored how audiovisual art can be used to engage the public and inspire reflection on future living environments. - 3rd place: Lena Wagner (USTP / Bachelor Media Management)
In her bachelor thesis, she examined how the media depict diverse human and non-human perspectives in the contentious debate on wind turbines in Lower Austria, aiming to highlight the role of inclusion and diversity in environmental discourse.
“The Different Brilliant Award has become a key distinction for outstanding student final theses in design and media production. Each year, students are invited to submit innovative academic final theses in the field of design research. This year’s submissions featured particularly exciting projects. We are therefore all the more delighted that members of the Academic Design Network Austria – a networking initiative for Austrian design degree programmes – joined the review process,” say Rosa von Suess, initiator of the award and programme director of Media Technology, and Graziele Lautenschlaeger, Professor of Media Technology at USTP.
In addition to the prize money, the winners will also have the opportunity to publish their work in the proceedings of IconCMT 2025. The prize money was sponsored by the bachelor degree programme in Media Technology.
MoreInfos:
FH-Prof. Mag. Dr. Rosa von Suess
Academic Director Media Technology (BA) Lecturer Course Leader Film, TV and Media - Creation and Distribution (MA) Department of Media and Digital Technologies Head of c-tv
Sandra Lagler , BA, MA
Expert Video Production und Corporate CommunicationsMarketing and Communications
