The STARTS Prize opened its 2026 call for entries this summer. An initiative of the European Commission — STARTS stands for Science, Technology, and the Arts — the prize rewards projects at the intersection of those fields, specifically where artistic practice drives innovation with technological and social impact. It offers substantial prize funding, exhibition at major venues, and the visibility of a program explicitly premised on the idea that artists are collaborators in invention, not decorators of finished technology. The open call invites artists, researchers, and interdisciplinary teams from around the world.
Watch: The Winners of the S+T+ARTS Prize (YouTube)
A prize with a thesis about art and innovation
What distinguishes STARTS from a conventional art award is its underlying argument: that bringing artists into science and technology produces better, more humane, more imaginative innovation — and that this collaboration deserves to be recognized and funded on its own terms. Its two main categories reflect that, honoring both artistic exploration of new technology and innovative collaborations between the arts and industry or science. For the readers across this site’s community and research beats — people working where code, hardware, biology, data, and art overlap — it’s one of the few major prizes that treats that overlap as the point rather than a curiosity.
What it supports and how to approach it
Selected projects receive significant funding and are showcased internationally, often in connection with Ars Electronica, giving winners both resources and a substantial platform. As with the other open calls this site tracks, prospective applicants should review the current year’s categories, eligibility, deadlines, and requirements on the STARTS Prize site, and study past winners to understand the caliber and the specific art-meets-innovation sensibility the jury rewards. It sits alongside the Lumen Prize and Prix Ars Electronica as a marquee recognition for technological art — distinguished by its explicit focus on art as a driver of real-world scientific and industrial innovation.