The European Association of Co-operative Banks (EACB), in collaboration with its Academic Advisory Group, has launched a new edition of the Award for the best paper on cooperative banking authored by young researchers. The winner will receive a prize of €2,000, the opportunity to publish the paper on the EACB website, and the chance to present it publicly during a meeting of the EACB Academic Advisory Group or an event organised by the association.
The call is open to young researchers up to the age of 35. Co-authored papers will be accepted on topics related to cooperative banking, financial cooperatives or comparisons between cooperative banks and other credit institutions, such as commercial banks, shareholder-owned banks or savings banks, among others.
The jury will primarily assess contributions in the academic fields of economics, finance and accounting, corporate governance or management. However, papers addressing other topics directly linked to cooperative banking may also be considered.
Among the eligible themes listed in the award guidelines are the contribution of cooperative banks to competition and diversity in the financial sector; their impact on economic stability and on social and financial inclusion; and their role in promoting sustainability and generating value for members.
In addition, topics such as innovation, the digitalisation of cooperative banking, open banking, regulatory challenges and international comparisons of cooperative banking are also included.
Formal Criteria for Submissions
Papers must be written in English and must follow the standard format of academic journals. They should be original works, not exceeding 10,000 words in total, and must be submitted in both PDF and Word formats in order to undergo a plagiarism check upon submission.
Submissions will be accepted provided they have not been published in other scientific journals or books prior to 31 October 2025, which is the deadline for submitting applications. Papers scheduled for publication after that date will be considered eligible.
Applications must be submitted to eacbaward@eacb.coop. The EACB Award Scientific Committee will evaluate the submissions in the weeks following the deadline. Selection criteria include the paper’s contribution to scientific literature, the rigour of its reasoning, the clarity of its presentation, and the relevance of its conclusions. The jury’s decision will be announced in early 2026.
Scientific Committee
The EACB Award Scientific Committee is composed of a group of five professors specialised in the field:
- Silvio Goglio, University of Trento, Italy (Coordinator)
- Yiorgos Alexopoulos, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece
- Hans Groeneveld, Tilburg University, Netherlands
- David Llewellyn, Loughborough University, United Kingdom
- Eric Meyer, University of Muenster, Germany
Further Information
Contact: Luce Jacqmin, EACB Secretariat – luce.jacqmin@eacb.coop
