11/03/2025

Journalism Prize for Computer Science: Applications open until 16 January 2026

Junger Mann sitzt auf einer Treppe und schaut auf sein Smartphone.
© UdS/Oliver DietzeMit dem Journalismuspreis Informatik werden Beiträge prämiert, die Themen der Informatik kritisch hinterfragen, etwa die in der EU diskutierte Chatkontrolle.

Will the chat control measures currently being discussed in the EU create loopholes that undermine the privacy of our messages? Are AI browsers, like those offered by Perplexity and OpenAI, changing the internet? And will Germany finally become a supercomputing nation with its new high-performance computer Jupiter? Quality journalism is key to keeping up with the rapid development of new technologies.

The media should convey the enormous social relevance of many topics in computer science to the general public. The best articles from 2025 will therefore be honoured with the Journalism Prize for Computer Science.

The following text has been machine translated from the German with no human editing.

With the Journalism Prize for Computer Science, the Saarland Ministry of Economics, Innovation, Digital Affairs and Energy, in cooperation with the Saarland Informatics Campus, honours outstanding journalistic contributions on computer science. The award, which has been presented since 2006, honours German-language journalistic contributions in the field of computer science in the three categories "Text", "Audio" and "Video and Multimedia". With a prize money of 5,000 euros per category, the award aims to promote outstanding, high-quality reporting on topics related to Computer Science. The prize money is donated by the Saarland Ministry of Economics, Innovation, Digital Affairs and Energy.

All entries that meet the competition criteria and were published between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025 are eligible for the competition. Submissions can be made via the following link. The submission deadline is Friday, 16 January 2026: https://journalismuspreis.saarland-informatics-campus.de/

The award will be given to entries that present and communicate the research results of Computer Science and its applications in a way that is generally understandable. Entries that illustrate how Computer Science shapes and influences everyday life are also eligible for the award. In addition, works that stimulate critical discussion about the opportunities and challenges that Computer Science can create are welcome.

The patron of the 2024 Computer Science Journalism Award is Jürgen Barke, Saarland's Minister for Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalisation and Energy. The event is being held in partnership with the German Informatics Society (GI), the largest interest group representing computer science in German-speaking countries.

The Journalism Prize for Computer Science will be awarded on 12 May 2026 at the Saarland Informatics Campus at Saarland University in Saarbrücken.

Further information:

Previous winners of the Journalism Prize for Computer Science

Apply at: https://journalismuspreis.saarland-informatics-campus.de

Background Saarland Informatics Campus:

With 1,000 scientists (including 540 doctoral students) and around 2,800 students from more than 80 countries, the Saarland Informatics Campus (SIC) is one of the leading locations for Computer Science in Germany and Europe. Four globally renowned research institutes, namely the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the Max Planck Institute for Computer Science, the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, the Centre for Bioinformatics, and Saarland University with three networked academic fields and 24 degree programmes cover the entire spectrum of Computer Science.

Questions answered by:

Philipp Zapf-Schramm
Max Planck Institute for Computer Science
Telephone: +49 681 9325-4509
Email: pzs(at)mpi-inf.mpg.de

Friederike Meyer zu Tittingdorf
Saarland University
Telephone: 0681 302 3610
Email: presse.meyer(at)uni-saarland.de

Junger Mann sitzt auf einer Treppe und schaut auf sein Smartphone.
© UdS/Oliver DietzeMit dem Journalismuspreis Informatik werden Beiträge prämiert, die Themen der Informatik kritisch hinterfragen, etwa die in der EU diskutierte Chatkontrolle.