For another consecutive year, the European Association of Co-operative Banks (EACB), in collaboration with its Academic Advisory Group, is pleased to announce its competition for young researchers for best papers in the field of cooperative banking.
I. Addressees
The competition is open to young researchers aged 35 or under (meaning applicants should have been born on or after 1 January 1991). Co-authored papers are also welcome, provided that all authors meet the age requirement.
II. Research Themes
Papers should focus on topics related to cooperative banking. Contributions addressing other types of financial cooperatives will also be considered, provided they examine issues and draw conclusions that are relevant to cooperative banking. Papers comparing cooperative banks with other types of credit institutions (such as profit-maximising banks, shareholder-owned banks or savings banks etc.) will likewise be taken into account. The judges will primarily consider contributions from the academic fields of economics, finance and accounting, corporate governance, or management, but may also assess papers on topics specifically related to cooperative banking, such as:
- Contribution of cooperative banks to competition in European banking
- Diversity in banking: The role of cooperative banks
- Impact of cooperative banks on financial stability
- Impact value of cooperative banks on social and financial inclusion
- Contribution of cooperative banks to sustainability of society and the environment
- Cooperative Banks: ‘Creating member value’
- Culture in stakeholders value (cooperative) banks: Is it different from shareholder banks?
- Are there distinct characteristics of cooperative banks (the cooperative difference)?
- Relative performance of cooperative and shareholder banks
- Challenges and opportunities of innovation and digitalisation for cooperative banks
- Challenges and opportunities of open banking for cooperative banks
- The specific governance of cooperative banks and the evolution of their business model
- Regulatory challenges for cooperative banks
- International comparison of cooperative banks
III. Formal Criteria for Contributions
- Papers must be written in English.
- Submissions should follow the standard format of an academic journal article.
- Papers must present new and original work by the author(s).
- The use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and Large Language Models (LLMs) is permitted solely for auxiliary and technical support, such as language editing, translation assistance, preliminary literature searches, data processing, coding, formatting or other technical assistance in preparing the manuscript. Standard spelling, grammar, and reference-management tools do not require disclosure. Generative AI tools must not be used to formulate research questions, develop legal, economic or sociological arguments, make substantive methodological choices, structure the text, analyse or interpret results, or draw conclusions, and they may not be listed as an author or co-author. Authors remain fully and solely responsible for the originality, scientific integrity and entire content of their submission, including the accuracy and authenticity of all citations, legal and other references, factual claims, data and analyses, and must independently verify any AI-assisted output. Authors must include an AI Disclosure Statement at the end of the submitted manuscript; this statement is not included in the applicable word limit; it must identify the Generative AI tool(s) and version(s) used, describe the tasks and sections for which they were used, and confirm that all relevant AI-assisted content and outputs have been independently verified. Where no Generative AI or LLM tools have been used, the authors must state this explicitly. The EACB Award Scientific Committee reserves the right to assess whether the use of Generative AI complies with these principles; failure to disclose such use, or any use that compromises the originality, integrity or academic quality of the submission, may result in rejection or disqualification.
- Submissions must not exceed 10,000 words, including the main text, references (footnotes, bibliography, tables of contents etc.), tables and figures (including captions), and appendices. Abstracts are excluded from the limit. Authors are responsible for ensuring compliance with the word limit. Papers exceeding the 10,000 word-limit (counted as specified above) may be returned without review.
- Submissions must be provided in both PDF and Word format to allow for plagiarism screening.
- Papers are eligible provided they have not been published in a scientific journal or book before 10 January 2027. Papers accepted for publication after that date may still be considered.
IV. Submission Details
The deadline for submissions is 10 January 2027.
Submissions should be sent to eacbaward@eacb.coop
For any other inquiries, please contact the EACB Secretariat’s Lead Communication Luce Jacqmin at luce.jacqmin@eacb.coop.
V. Selection Process and Criteria
All submissions received by the deadline will be forwarded by the EACB Secretariat to the EACB Award Scientific Committee, which will assess them in the weeks thereafter.
The Committee will assess submissions on the basis of the following criteria:
- the paper’s contribution to the scientific literature;
- the rigour of its argumentation; and
- the clarity of its exposition and policy relevance.
VI. Award
The author(s) of the winning paper will be awarded a prize of €2,000. The selected paper will be receiving recognition through publication on the EACB website, and the author(s) will be invited to present their work at a meeting of the EACB Academic Advisory Group or in the context of a public event of the EACB. The winner(s) will be announced in the first semester of 2027.
VII. Scientific Committee
The Scientific Committee of the EACB Award is composed of distinguished professors from leading European universities with recognised expertise in financial cooperatives. Its members are:
- Elena Beccali, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy
- Hans Groeneveld, University of Tilburg, Netherlands
- Małgorzata Iwanicz-Drozdowska, Warsaw School of Economics, Poland
- David Llewellyn, University of Loughborough, The United Kingdom
- Eric Meyer, University of Muenster, Germany
VIII. About the EACB
The European Association of Cooperative Banks (EACB) is the voice of cooperative banks in Europe and beyond. It represents, promotes, and defends the common interests of its 29 member institutions in banking as well as cooperative legislation. With 2,400 banks and 35,150 branches, cooperative banks are widely established across the European Union and play a vital role in its financial and economic system. They have a longstanding tradition serving their 228 million customers, mainly consumers, retailers, and communities. An important task of the EACB is to raise awareness on the unique characteristics of the cooperative business model: democracy, transparency, and proximity. In Europe, cooperative banks represent 91 million members, providing employment to 742,000 individuals and maintaining an average market share of approximately 20%.