INa Sustainability award: Submit your work now

In the 2026/27 winter semester, HWR Berlin and the Institute for Sustainability (INa) will once again be recognising outstanding student work that relates to the themes of sustainability and responsibility. As a student or alumnus of HWR Berlin, you can submit your Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis, or longer seminar papers and project work. Your work must not be more than two years old.

A selection committee comprising professors from the university and members of the Institute for Sustainability will decide on the award of the Sustainability Prize. Projects marked as confidential will be treated as such. The winners will be honoured at a public ceremony. The winning theses will be made available online in summary form.

What can you win?

The following prize money will be awarded to the top three submissions:

• 1st Place: €600
• 2nd Place: €300
• 3rd Place: €150

In addition, this year the practice partners Zumtobel and Getränke Hoffmann will sponsor a special distinction for the submission with the highest practical relevance.

What types of work can you submit?

HWR Berlin recognizes outstanding student work that addresses sustainability and responsibility. Your work should be academically rigorous, methodologically sound, and provide particular value either for practice or for current research. It must also meet the following requirements:

• It is a bachelor's thesis, master's thesis, seminar paper, or project paper containing at least 40,000 characters, including spaces.
• The work was completed as part of a degree program at HWR Berlin.
• The submission date of the work is no more than two years before September 30, 2026.
• The work received a grade of at least 2.0 (German grading system).

What should you submit and how?

To apply for the INa Sustainability Award, send your complete application by email to ina@hwr-berlin.de. The selection committee requires the following documents:

1. Your bachelor's thesis, master's thesis, seminar paper, or project paper.
    
2. A statement explaining why your work is outstanding. This statement must contain between 1,000 and 4,000 characters, including spaces, and should address:
   a. Sustainability research: relevance of the research question, justification of the methodology, and scientific contribution.
   b. Sustainability practice: relevance for practical sustainability work and impact on key stakeholders and/or sustainability goals.
   c. Strengths and limitations of the work.
   d. Three to five key findings of the work (briefly summarized or in bullet points).
    
3. Proof of the grade received.
    
4. Proof of the grade received: Please ask your primary or secondary supervisor to complete a brief assessment using the designated form and submit it, if possible together with the evaluation report, to ina(at)hwr-berlin.de.

By when must you submit?

Bis spätestens 30. September 2026 solltest du deine Unterlagen per E-Mail eingereicht haben.

Who selects the winners?

The award recipients are chosen by a selection committee consisting of at least five professors, at least three of whom are members of INa. The process has two stages:

1. Pre-selection: Based on the grade, the statement of motivation, and the supervisor’s assessment.
2. Final decision: Based on standard criteria for academic work, as well as the work’s contribution to implementing sustainability and responsibility in practice and/or advancing current research.

What does the award ceremony look like?

• The awards will be presented during the INa Sustainability Forum, provisionally scheduled for December 9, 2026.
• Award recipients will briefly present their work.
• The winning works will be honored through a formal laudation.
• Award recipients will be photographed.
• Award recipients must submit a short summary of their work for publication on the HWR Berlin website.