Awards

2026 ESSPD Excellence Award

The ESSPD aims to recognize research that clearly pushes forward the field of personality disorders worldwide and makes an outstanding contribution to the understanding and treatment of individuals with personality disorders. Therefore, we invite applications – in the form of a recently published paper – that report about an important finding or an idea, a concept, or a method. The Award will come with a stipend of EUR 1000 and the invitation to a plenary talk at the 2026 ESSPD conference in Lausanne (Switzerland).

Selection criteria:

The selection will be made based on originality, the impact on the field, the quality of the methods, the involvement of persons with lived experience (if applicable) and the potential for stimulating new research perspectives.

Submission process:

Any researcher or research group interested in personality disorders may apply for this Excellence Award. The paper must be published, or ahead of print, during the 12 months before the submission deadline of the award (between April 1^st, 2025 and March 31^st, 2026). Candidates are asked to submit the .pdf of the paper and a letter of motivation, signed by all co-authors of the paper before the deadline. The group should designate one person who will be present at the upcoming ESSPD conference.

Please submit the letter and the paper before March 31^st, 2026 to info@esspd.eu

The selection will be made based on originality, the impact on the field, the quality of the methods, the involvement of persons with lived experience (if applicable) and the potential for stimulating new research perspectives.

ESSPD Early Career Researcher Award 2026

The European Society for the Study of Personality Disorders (ESSPD) established the Early Career Researchers Award in order to stimulate early career researchers to perform innovative research in the broad field of personality disorders. The selection criteria for the award jury will be:

• The research idea has to be original, innovative and methodologically sound
• It has to connect different domains of research, resulting in a new perspective
• The research has to be the applicant’s own project, is not part of a larger institutional project and has to be adequately presented and discussed.
• The applicant has not finished his/her/their post academic traineeship or residencies longer than 10 years before March 31^st, 2026

The jury will be assembled on the basis of the following criteria:

• The jury consists of 5 members, all internationally distinguished researchers
• The jury members come from different research domains, scientific background and disciplines and have different nationalities.
• The award for 2026 will be presented by the Chair of the Award committee at the ESSPD conference on 7-9 September, 2026 in Lausanne (Switzerland).
• The laureate will be invited to give a special lecture (15 minutes) on his/her/their work.
• The awardee receives an award document with the report of the jury, the ESSPD-award-medal, as well as a cash award of € 1000.

How to apply?

 Applications have to be sent by e-mail to the ESSPD Award Committee – info@esspd.eu

Application Deadline: March 31^st, 2026

The applicant has to provide the following documents:

1. A curriculum vitae
2. A letter of recommendation by his/her scientific mentor, who confirms that the candidate is eligible and that the submitted research fulfills the selection criteria described above
3. A description of the research
4. .pdf files of the relevant published articles or submitted scientific manuscripts

Early Career Researchers Travel Bursaries

The ESSPD Meeting & Training Fellowship supports early-career researchers attending ESSPD-endorsed conferences, workshops, and methodological schools. The goal is to promote scientific dissemination, skill acquisition, and integration within the ESSPD scientific community.

For the 2026 ESSPD Congress in Lausanne, the Travel Award aims to facilitate the participation of Early Career Researchers (ECRs) whose work contributes to advancing personality disorder research and clinical practice. This year, for the first time, the ESSPD will award up to three travel bursaries for Early Career researchers whose submissions have been accepted for presentation in Lausanne. 

Each bursary is up to a maximum of €500 Euro per person that can be used for conference fees, travel or accommodation.
Submit your application by May 31, 2026.

Eligibility

• ESSPD (full or junior) membership
• Early Career Researcher (ECR) status: within 5 years of completing the highest degree (MSc/PhD), excluding career breaks (e.g., illness, caregiving, parental leave).
• ESSPD Membership: must be an active ESSPD Member or Junior Member at the time of application.
• Motivation for applying: the applicant must confirm: 1) no alternative financial support is available, and 2) the presentation of their work that is directly relevant to the ESSPD conference topic or strategic research priorities (e.g., interpersonal functioning, social cognition, emotion regulation, lived experience integration, etc.).
• Must not have received this fellowship in the previous 3 years.

Required Documents
1. One-page cover letter outlining learning goals and relevance of the event.
2. Applicant CV (max. 2 pages).
3. Publication list.
4. Passport or ID scan.
5. Proof of abstract submission.
6. Proof of no institutional financial support

Submission via mail to info@esspd.eu

Post-Event Requirements

• Recipients must submit a certificate of attendance and a copy of the presented abstract. Failure will result in a 5-year ban from ESSPD funding.
• ESSPD Membership: must be an active ESSPD Member or Junior Member at the time of application.

Evaluation Criteria

• Each item scored 1 (no fit) → 5 (excellent fit):

• Scientific quality and methodological rigor (1–5)

• Innovation and relevance to ESSPD priorities, including new populations, novel questions, or multi-method approaches (1–5)

• Applicant’s individual contribution to the work (lead role, analysis, design, recruitment, etc.) (1–5)

• Role clarity and independence in the project (extent to which the applicant is driving the work, not only contributing peripherally) (1–5)

• Equity context weighting factor (regional funding disparity, low-resource setting, no institutional travel budget, etc.) (applied after initial scoring, not part of core score)