E3S Student Awards

The European Sensory Science Society is pleased to announce that four awards of €1,500 will be given out to PhD students enrolled at Universities in E3S Member countries. There will be three traditional E3S PhD awards, and one Special Award in memory of Pieter Punter (1947-2017). Pieter was an integral backbone of E3S since its inception and was an enthusiastic and thought-provoking contributor in the field of sensory consumer research. In agreement with his family and former colleagues, the prize will be awarded to a PhD student who has provided evidence of asserting their active and autonomous character, providing your own ideas, participation in workshops/ volunteering/ contribution to research group/University/ National sensory society within their application.

The award winners will each receive €1500 after their attendance at the conference to help towards their travel and expenses. The winners will be also asked to prepare a report of their participation in the conference that will be posted on the E3S website.

AWARD APPLICATION DEADLINE: 31 March 2026

APPLY HERE

All applicants must:

• Be a PhD student enrolled at a University in a E3S member country (including students that were enrolled at a University but have defended their thesis after 1 October 2025) and be an E3S member (you will be asked to confirm the name of the National Society that you are a student member of).
• Not have received an E3S student award previously.
• Provide the abstract number assigned through official Eurosense abstract submission system.
• Submit an extended abstract (see instructions below) before the submission date explaining the need for the research, its novelty, research aims/objectives, the methods employed, data analysis, results and discussion. Please include a section explaining the wider impact of the research, as well as submitting a normal abstract online in the normal way through the Eurosense website by the required deadline.
• Provide a cover letter providing evidence of your contribution to the field of sensory and consumer science. This could include demonstration of an active contribution to the field of sensory science via your member country’s organisation, the E3S next generation group or wider in the community via outreach activities. This could also include evidence of strong communication skills and networking in the field. To be considered for the Pieter Punter award you should also demonstrate evidence of asserting your active and autonomous character, providing your own ideas, participation in workshops/ volunteering/ contribution to research group/University/ National sensory society should be evidenced.
• Submit a supporting letter from your supervisor (max 500 words) confirming your eligibility and (where appropriate) the abilities of the candidate to be an independent researcher. Skills in leadership, communication and networking (where appropriate) may also be evidenced here as well as any other attributes that make you an ideal candidate for the E3S awards and/or Pieter Punter award.

Applications are assessed using the following weighting:

• Extended abstract 60%
• Cover letter demonstrating contribution to the field 15%
• Supporting letter from supervisor 15%
• Rating from the Eurosense Scientific Committee 10%

Extended abstracts’ instructions

The extended abstract should be 1000 words and must have the following items:

• Introduction
• Methods
• Results and Discussion
• Impacts of research
• Conclusion
• References

In order to facilitate editing, your extended abstract should adhere to the following rules:

• Use A4 page format (210 x 297 mm)
• Leave 2.5 cm margins at the top, bottom, right and left sides of each page
• Use Arial font
• Use size 14 points bold for paper title, size 12 points bold for authors’ names, size 12 points bold for section titles, and size 12 points regular for the text.
• Use single space between lines.

Figures, tables, captions, and references are not considered in the space limits.

Winners of the 2022 E3S Awards

Leonardo Menghi, University of Trento (Italy) and University of Southern Denmark (Denmark)

Italian Sensory Science Society (SISS) and Danish Sensory Society/Dansk Sensorik Selskab (D2S)

Oral presentation: What's behind the differences in sensory responsiveness to oral stimuli in real foods?: a possible link with oral and gut microbiota

E3S EuroSense Student Awards 2022

Victoria Norton, University of Reading (UK), IFST Sensory Science Group (UK)

ECR Seminar and poster session: Individual variation in mouthfeel sensitivity: investigating influences of whey protein content, consumer age, food format and fat addition

Hannah Ford, University of Nottingham (UK), IFST Sensory Science Group (UK)

Oral presentation: A cross-cultural perspective of meat-eating consumers’ willingness and motivations to reduce meat intake and accept protein alternatives

Ansung Kim, Örebro University, Swedish Sensory Network (SSN), Sweden

ECR Seminar and poster session: Association between consumers' attachment towards meat on sensory properties and preferences of plant-based meat alternatives.