20,000 euros await the winners of the STARTS Prize 2016. Appointed by the European Commission, Ars Electronica is launching an international prize to select the most pioneering collaborations and results in the field of creativity and innovation at the crossings of science and technology with the arts.

Entries Are Now Being Accepted

This is an open call for entries in conjunction with an initiative launched by the European Commission: STARTS. The name stands for innovation at the nexus of Science, Technology and the ARTS.

Two prizes - €20,000 each - will be bestowed this year:

• One for artistic exploration and projects in which the artistic approach has significant potential to influence or change the way technology is deployed, developed or perceived, and
• One for innovative cooperative ventures teaming up industry/technology and art (and cultural & creative sectors in general) in ways that open up new paths for innovation.

This competition specifically seeks:

• Trailblazing forms of collaboration and projects essentially characterized by both technology and art; strictly artistically or strictly technologically oriented projects are not what STARTS is looking for.
• Any and all artistic works and practices having to do with innovation in the areas of technology, business and/or society. This competition is not limited to a particular genre such as media art and digital art.
• All forms of technological and scientific research that are inspired by art or in which artists are integrated as catalysts of new ways of seeing things. This includes but is not limited to information & communications technology.
• Artists or artists’ collectives, creative professionals, researchers and companies throughout the world. This competition is not limited to citizens of EU-member states.
• A project may be submitted for prize consideration simultaneously to the STARTS competition as well as a Prix Ars Electronica category (Computer Animation/Film/VFX, Digital Communities or Interactive Art).

Several special events are being planned to honor and showcase the projects singled out for recognition with a STARTS Prize:

• Awards ceremony at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria September 8-12, 2016
• Exhibition featuring the prizewinning projects at the 2016 Ars Electronica Festival
• STARTS Forum at the 2016 Ars Electronica Festival
• Exhibition featuring the prizewinning projects at the BOZAR Electronic Art Festival in Brussels, Belgium September 23-25, 2016

More about STARTS INITIATIVE
More about STARTS PRIZE

Apply by March 4, 2016.