Deadline: 31 May 2025

The Mario Markus Prize for Ludic Science is designed to honour scientific work in the natural sciences that is ‘playful’. For the purpose of the award, the term ‘playful’ is defined as research that includes discoveries that arose from research that was undertaken not with any specific application in mind, but simply out of curiosity about the natural world. The award offers a cash prize of €10,000 and the travel expenses to the award ceremony.

In the three years since its establishment, the award has gone to researchers working on the biomimetic behaviour in artificially produced active matter and the locomotion of turtle barnacles, as well as to a team investigating the flight behaviour of beer mats.

Applications are open to researchers working in the natural sciences worldwide.

Applications must include a short cover letter, a curriculum vitae and at least one publication describing the work, which should have been published in a peer-reviewed journal in 2020 or later.

Additional information can be found here.