Awards

EASM Awards 2025
The European Association for Sport Management (EASM) Awards recognise outstanding contributions to its annual European Sport Management Conference and aspirational research in general.
We invite short papers to be considered for the EASM Best Conference Paper Award 2025 and the ESMQ New Researcher Award 2025 for aspiring scholars. Please note that entries can be submitted into only one of these award categories.

Excellent reviewers who contribute to the assessment and progression of their colleagues’ work as part of the peer-review process will be awarded with the EASM Best Conference Reviewer Award 2025.

EASM Best Conference Paper Award 2025
Researchers are invited to submit a Short Paper to be considered for the EASM Best Paper Award 2025, which will be awarded at the conference in Budapest. To be considered for this award, applicants submit a Short Paper (maximum 2,500 words; including tables/figures and captions but excluding references) in addition to their standard Abstract. The submission should be based on new research that is has not been published/accepted or under review as a journal article. In the first round, submissions are filtered based only on the strength of the respective Abstract that is submitted simultaneously with the Short Paper. In the second round, remaining Short Papers are independently evaluated by the Award Committee. In the final round, the Committee decides on the winner selected from three shortlisted papers.

ESMQ New Researcher Award (NRA) 2025
This award is a competition organised by European Sport Management Quarterly (ESMQ) and is sponsored by Routledge Journals. The New Researcher Award is for the best original theoretical or empirical advance and significant unpublished contribution in sport management. The research should be appropriate for presentation at the European Association for Sport Management (EASM) conference and for publication in ESMQ.

To be eligible for the Award, researchers must be near to completion of their PhD or have graduated less than three years prior to entering the competition. The author of the best paper will receive a prize of €500, donated by Routledge Journals. The New Researcher Award aims to stimulate dissemination of new ideas and innovative research in sport management by encouraging new researchers at the start of their career.

In addition, the winner will receive a complimentary one-year membership to the European Association for Sport Management, which includes a free annual subscription to ESMQ. The winner will also be invited to submit their work to ESMQ, considering the comments and feedback of the reviewers on how the paper could be strengthened for publication. The normal ESMQ review process will then take place.

The two runners up will receive a book prize, courtesy of Routledge Journals and a certificate to mark their achievement of being a shortlisted candidate.

A New Researcher Award jury oversees the competition. which will be weighted as follows:
– 50% will be based on the Round 2 written paper;
– 30% will be based on the Round 3 oral presentation; and
– 20% will be based on a qualitative assessment of Rounds 2 and 3 by the jury.

Round 1: All applicants submit a standard Abstract (see Call for Papers section) along with a Short Paper (maximum 2,500 words; including tables, figures and captions, but excluding references) via the online EASM Conference 2025 ConfTool portal (https://www.conftool.com/easm2025 link beágyazása). Applicants should select the ESMQ New Researcher Award 2025 track.

Three shortlisted candidates will be invited to participate in both Round 2 and Round 3. All candidates who are not shortlisted, will automatically have their standard Abstract reviewed for consideration in other tracks of the EASM 2025 conference.

Round 2: The shortlisted candidates submit a Full Paper to the New Researcher Award 2025 Special Issue section of the ESMQ portal. adhering to the journal’s instructions for authors.

Round 3: The shortlisted candidates are invited to present their papers as part of the EASM Conference in September 2025. The presentation should not be a response to the reviews, rather it should focus on the contribution of the work to the sport management literature.

Also, please consider the following information:

All applicants must provide a statement regarding the stage of their academic career, including where appropriate, the date of graduation for their doctoral degree in the “Remark/Message to the Programme Committee and Chairs” section of the ConfTool.
The research paper must not have been presented or published previously in any scholarly outlet.
If the paper is co-authored, a note as to the distribution of work among the authors must be provided by the submitting author.
Candidates are allowed to submit one NRA paper only.

The ESMQ New Researcher Award 2025 jury is chaired by Professor Simon Shibli (Sheffield Hallam University, s.shibli@shu.ac.uk).

Members of the 2025 NRA jury are:

Professor Paul Downward	Loughborough University
Professor Vassil Girginov	Brunel University London
Dr Daniel Lock	Bournemouth University
Professor Kathy Babiak	University of Michigan
Professor Tim Pawlowski	University of Tübingen
Dr Changwook Kim	Brock University

Further details are available at https://www.easm.net/new-researcher-award/

The information provided on this page supersedes any previous guidance in the public domain concerning the ESMQ New Researcher Award 2025.

EASM Best Conference Reviewer Award 2025
The EASM Best Conference Reviewer Award recognises outstanding dedication in providing knowledgeable reviews in a collegial spirit to promote both the development of colleagues’ work, and overall scientific quality of the conference. The Conference Scientific Committee acts as the award committee, informed by the Conference Track Review Chairs.