ART. 1 Admission to the competition

Art 1.1 All final-year students of a Master's degree who are enrolled at a Belgian educational institution, a Dutch educational institution, a German educational institution or an educational institution in Luxembourg can take part in the competition with their final thesis on sustainability (cf. article 2).

Other students, other than those described above, cannot participate in the competition, regardless of the subject of their thesis.

Art 1.2 Only one application may be submitted for each final . Final essays that have already been submitted are deleted from the list of candidates without the possibility of appeal.

It is possible to participate with a shared thesis in which several students work together on one thesis. In that case, the prize is divided equally among the students.

Art 1.3 It is only possible to participate with a final thesis written entirely in English. This may also be translated into English after writing the final thesis in another language. The translation shall be the participant's responsibility.

ART. 2 Subject of the final Thesis

Art. 2.1 Only theses with a topic related to sustainability are eligible for the competition.

Art 2.2 The admissibility of the topic of all the final Theses is assessed by an independent jury. This assessment is based on the abstract (max. 1 A4) describing the topic and objective of the thesis, and the motivation (max. 1 A4) describing how the topic can contribute to making the business world more sustainable.

Art 2.3 Candidates whose thesis the jury considers ineligible on the basis of the chosen topic are given the opportunity to revise the topic of their thesis. They are given a limited number of days for this, as specified in the timeline (Art. 9). Based on the revised version, a final assessment follows on the admissibility of each submission.

Art 2.4 The final decision on the admissibility of a submitted thesis cannot be appealed.

ART. 3 Nomination

Art 3.1 Students who want to compete for the Encon Sustainability Award can only apply via the Encon website or by sending an e-mail to Nina (nina.oudehengel@encon.eu) clearly stating that they want to submit their thesis for the Encon Sustainability Award. All other forms of application are considered null and void.

Art. 3.1.1 The nominations must be submitted by 30 September 2023 at the latest. Candidacies received after that date will be rejected without giving further reasons.

Art. 3.1.2 This deadline is not affected by the fact that the registration page may not be permanently accessible or operational due to technical problems or disruptions of any kind inside or outside Encon. However, the jury may decide to extend the submission period for these reasons.

Art 3.2 Only candidates who have provided all the requested information can take part in the competition. In addition to personal details and information about the educational establishment to which the applicant is affiliated, the application must also be accompanied by an abstract and motivation.

Art 3.2.1 The abstract consists of a maximum of 1 A4, and the motivation also consists of a maximum of 1 A4.

Art. 3.2.2 The abstract describes the subject and objective of the thesis. The motivation describes how the topic can potentially contribute to the sustainability of the business world. Both are submitted in English.

ART. 4 Submission of the final thesis

Art. 4.1 The final thesis must be submitted to the jury in digital form by 30 September 2023 at the latest.

ART. 5 Initial selection

Art 5.1 The jury makes a first selection on the basis of the final works submitted. First, the 5 final Theses that most closely meet the above criteria are selected. These 5 students may explain their thesis by making a video recording. Then, an internal jury selects the 3 best final Theses, which they may also pitch live before a renowned jury.

Art 5.2 In its selection, the jury is guided by the content of the thesis and its added value in terms of sustainability. Specific consideration is given to the relevance of the topic for application in the business world and the practical implementability or usability of the conclusions or the result of the thesis.

The thoroughness of the research and the reliability of the conclusions are of course also part of the evaluation.

Art 5.3 The grade obtained at the educational establishment is not taken into account in the evaluation of the final thesis. However, each student is required to obtain at least a pass grade for the final thesis and examinations.

Theses that are not passed by the educational institute for which they were defended do not qualify for further participation in the competition.

Students who did obtain a pass on their final thesis, but did not pass their courses, are also no longer eligible to take part in the competition.

Art 6. Final assessment

From the selected final essays, the winner will be chosen by an extended jury (see article 10).

Art 6.1 Five candidates, after a pre-selection, will be asked to submit a video explanation of their final thesis. In this video, the student will present his/her thesis in a presentation lasting no longer than 20 minutes. From these, 3 finalists will be selected who will be invited to present their thesis in front of a renowned jury in a short pitch of 15 minutes maximum. In addition, the student will state why she/he thinks she/he deserves to win the Encon Sustainability Award and why her/his thesis is most relevant to win this award. After this, the jury will have the opportunity to ask the student questions for 15 minutes.

Art 6.2 The steps in article 6.1 shall all be submitted, conducted and presented in English.

Art 6.3 In its final assessment, the jury is guided by the content of the thesis and its added value in the field of sustainability. Specific consideration is given to the relevance of the topic for application in the business world and the practical implementability or usability of the conclusions or the result of the thesis. The soundness of the research and the reliability of the conclusions are of course also part of the evaluation.

In addition to the substantive added value of the thesis, the candidate's presentation skills, powers of persuasion and professional mastery are also taken into account.

Art 7. Winner

Art 7.1 One winner is chosen from the final candidates. The winner is preferably chosen unanimously by all jury members. In case no unanimity can be reached, the candidate who obtains the majority of votes wins. In the event of a tie, the chairman of the jury shall have the casting vote.

Art. 7.2 The winner will be announced at an official moment in the presence of the press. The winner will be informed in good time so that he or she can make the necessary arrangements to be present at the official announcement.

Art 7.2.1 The winner undertakes to be present at the official announcement, except in the event of force majeure.

Art 7.2.2 The winner shall refrain from making any comments to the outside world regarding the competition and his/her participation for one month following the announcement of the winner, unless approved by Encon.

Art. 7.2.3 The winner undertakes, within reason, to collaborate in press activities and other PR events in connection with the competition.

Art. 7.2.4 The winner shall refrain, even after a period of one month following the announcement of the winner, from any comments regarding the nomination, the work submitted and the result obtained by other students.

Art. 7.2.5 The winner shall refrain from any action that might harm Encon, or the image of Encon, in any way, directly or indirectly.

Art 8. Prize

Art. 8.1 The winner receives a cash prize of € 2,500. This cash prize shall be paid into the winning person's account after the announcement of the winner and after the presentation of the Encon Sustainability Award.

Art. 8.2 In addition, the winner, if he or she so desires, is offered an exploratory interview with the Encon HR manager to examine whether there is a possible role for this person in the organisation.

Art. 8.3 If the final work chosen as the winner is a joint final project that was worked on by several students, the prize will be divided equally among all the students who collaborated on the joint final project.

Art. 8.4 Since only one student can be the ultimate winner of the Encon Sustainability Award, in the event of a shared thesis, the ultimate winner will be chosen from the team that worked on the thesis by applying the criteria stated above. The ultimate winner is offered permanent employment.

Art 9. Time table

1. Period until 30 September 2023: registration via the website or by e-mail and submission of the final thesis in digital form by the students.
2. 30 September 2023: deadline for submitting final Theses.
3. 30 September to 10 October 2023: evaluation and pre-selection of the final Theses.
4. 11 October 2023: request for the video recordings from the five selected students.
5. 28 October 2023: selection of the three finalists.
6. Date to follow: judging of the Encon Sustainability Award and defence of the final projects.
7. Date to follow: official and festive award ceremony and communication campaign.

Art. 10 The jury

Art. 10.1 The members of the jury are appointed by Encon.

Art. 10.2 The decision on admissibility and the first selection are made by a restricted jury.

Art. 10.3 The final judging is done by a jury with a larger composition. In addition to the internal jury members, external jury members will also be selected. These members have a special connection with the subject, the economic life or the academic world.

Art. 11 Use of information

Art. 11.1 The use of information obtained from companies or organisations collaborating in the final project is governed by the general agreements that the school enters into with the relevant companies or organisations. In the absence of such an agreement regulating the use and disclosure of this information, the student, or the team of students, will ensure that an agreement is made allowing for the use of information legitimately obtained in the thesis and for the disclosure of the thesis.

Art 12. Competition rules

Art. 12.1 These competition rules are available on the competition pages of the Encon Sustainability Award on https://www.encon.eu/ESA

Art. 12.2 Every candidate for the competition is considered to have taken note of the rules and is considered to agree with all the provisions of the rules. Each candidate also agrees to our privacy statement, which can be found here.