On June 12 – 13, 2025, POLITEHNICA Bucharest campus welcomed students, professors, and researchers from across Europe for a special celebration of scientific talent: the 3rd edition of the EELISA Student Scientific Competition (SSC).
As the host of this year’s edition, our university had the honor of transforming into a hub of dialogue, discovery, and international collaboration, showcasing not only the remarkable achievements of young researchers but also the growing momentum behind EELISA’s mission of building a truly European scientific community.
A Growing European Platform
What began three years ago as a student research competition within the EELISA Alliance has now evolved into a pan-European, open initiative. For the first time, the 2025 edition invited participants from outside the original ten EELISA partner universities. This broadening of scope reflects an increasing interest in the competition as a platform for scientific excellence and international recognition.
Over 143 papers were submitted this year, covering a wide range of disciplines, from applied informatics and artificial intelligence to urbanism, materials science, architecture, and life sciences. The diversity of topics mirrored the multifaceted challenges young researchers are tackling today, and the jury—composed of experts from academia and industry—was met with the difficult task of evaluating them.
Innovation on Display
The competition featured eleven disciplinary tracks, each designed to reflect the broad and interdisciplinary nature of engineering and scientific research today. Alongside more traditional domains, special attention was given to contemporary and emerging topics, such as sustainable mobility and AI ethics. A dedicated Artificial Intelligence Session stood out for its bold engagement with both AI-generated and AI-focused research.
Among the highlights were also impressive submissions in Applied Informatics, where Nguyen Hoang Tung (BME) earned the first prize, and in Life Sciences, where Mihai Păduraru (POLITEHNICA Bucharest) secured a top spot with a project that impressed both jury and peers.
Creating New Traditions: Student Reporters
This year’s competition introduced a new and exciting feature: the EELISA Student Reporters initiative. A select group of students from host universities worked behind the scenes to capture the essence of the competition-not just through notes and rankings, but through interviews, storytelling, and visual content. Their work provided a dynamic and human-centered perspective of the event, one that will live on long after the final awards were handed out.
Celebrating Excellence
The final award ceremony was not only a celebration of individual brilliance but of community, mentorship, and the shared European spirit that EELISA represents. In total, the jury granted 15 first prizes, 16 second prizes, 6 third prizes, and 19 special prizes-a testament to the high quality of the research and the fierce but friendly competition among participants.
Looking Ahead
As hosts, we are proud to have played a role in this growing European tradition. Organizing the 3rd EELISA SSC has been a rewarding experience, not just logistically, but intellectually and emotionally. It reaffirmed our belief that Europe’s scientific future is in good hands-bold, curious, interdisciplinary, and collaborative.
We extend our warmest congratulations to all participants and thank our co-organizing partners at BME, as well as the EELISA coordination teams. Together, we built more than a competition-we built a community.
