What is futurEU competition?
The futurEU Competition is an initiative that brings students’ ideas into real policy debate. The 2026 theme invites applicants to think boldly about how Europe can strengthen its resilience and shape the future of security & defence. It is open to undergraduate and graduate students as well as PhD researchers enrolled at one of the CIVICA partner universities. Applicants are required to form teams of at least two but not more than three members.
How to apply?
The competition is open to students enrolled in any CIVICA member university for the academic year 2025-2026. Participants must be pursuing a bachelor’s, master’s, or PhD degree.
The competition consists of two rounds:
- Written Round: Teams submit a short summary in the form of Threads describing their policy idea.
- Oral Round: The top eight teams present their policy brief to a panel of judges in Berlin in May 2026.
Registration is open to all students and PhD researchers of the CIVICA Alliance. You can register with a team here by 31January.