Gender & Diversity Awards 2025

USTP – University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten has once more honoured scientific theses related to gender and diversity topics. The Gender & Diversity Awards were given away on 25 November 2025 within the framework of the annual International Week.

The prizes endowed with 600 EUR each were awarded in three categories:

• Best bachelor thesis written at USTP
• Best master thesis written at USTP
• Best final thesis written at a partner university in the E³UDRES² network

Varied Topics and Exciting Pitches

The finalists had a maximum of three minutes to present their theses.

The range of topics was wide: from female gaze in film through accessible web design in e-commerce to racial bias in large language models (LLMs).

The presentations impressively demonstrated how gender and diversity perspectives enrich our research.

Chosen by Expert Judges

A specialist jury made a preselection of the best submissions and then assessed the finalists’ pitches. A big thank you goes to:

• Christina Egger & Lisa David (Service and Competence Center LEARN)
• Luna Moser (class representative of Media Technology)
• Kerstin Blumenstein (Department of Media and Digital Technologies)
• Irmgard Wetzstein (Department of Digital Business and Innovation)
• Marlene Hock (Head of the Unit for Equal Opportunities and Diversity of the Austrian Science Fund, FWF)

Keynote: Decolonial Perspectives in Higher Education

Helena Segarra and Lisa Tackie provided insights into structural marginalisation and power structures in higher education. Based on their MOOC “Diversity in the Context of University. Racism-Critical Perspectives into Everyday University Life”, they discussed the question:
Can science truly contribute to overcoming social inequalities – and if yes, how?

The Winners 2025

• Bachelor thesis (Media Technology)
  Rosa Havel: “Die Kunst der Intimität. Die filmische Darstellung von Beziehungen zwischen Frauen durch immersive, nicht lineare Erzähltechniken.”
  (The art of intimacy. The presentation in film of relationships between women through immersive, non-linear storytelling techniques.)
• Master thesis (Digital Marketing & Communication)
  Laura Borovansky: “Wirkung von LGBTQIA+ Darstellungen in Werbeanzeigen in der Online-Werbung auf das Markenimage.”
  (The effect of LGBTQIA+ presentations in online advertising on the brand image.)
• E³UDRES² category (Social Work, Fulda University of Applied Sciences)
  Lilly-Marie Arand: “Politische Partizipation von Transpersonen. Fördermöglichkeiten der Sozialen Arbeit in der Arbeit mit Jugendlichen und jungen Erwachsenen.“
  (Political participation of trans persons. Empowerment possibilities of Social Work with adolescents and young adults.)
  Congratulations!

The winners will soon join our radio show Campustalk – Campus & City Radio St. Pölten and discuss their research.