Academic Award 2026 – Call for Submissions
Are you a Master’s student conducting research at the intersection of science and intelligence?
Submit an essay to the Intelligence College in Europe (ICE) Academic Award 2026 !
📥 Download the official flyer (PDF)
Scope of Submissions
Learn more about the scope of submission
We invite original academic essays (maximum 5,000 words) that explore research questions broadly related to the theme “Science and Intelligence.” Submissions must be written in English and include a 500-word abstract outlining the central research question and core argument.
Eligibility
Learn more about eligibility
The competition is open to citizens of ICE member states who:
- Are currently enrolled in a Master’s programme at an ICE Academic Partner Institution
- Or completed such a programme in 2023 or 2024
Award
Learn more about how submissions are awarded
Selected essays will be awarded:
- 500 € prize money
- Certificate of Excellence
- A fully funded invitation to present the essay at the ICE Academic Conference, to be held 17–19 June 2026 at the Bundeswehr University Munich, Germany
Submission Process
Learn more about the submission process
Register by 17 October 2025 by emailing academic.award@intelligence-college-europe.org
Include the following details:
- Full name
- Academic institution
- Title of the essay
Please use your country as the subject line of your email.
After registration, you will receive a link to upload your essay in PDF format.
Submission deadline: 31 October 2025
Further Information
For questions or additional information, please contact:
Prof. Lars Berger
📧 lars.berger@hsbund-nd.de
Scholarly Contribution: The Social Ties That Bind
The Social Ties That Bind: Trust & Cooperation in EU Intelligence
Traditional views on intelligence cooperation emphasize transactional exchanges—quid pro quo deals between states. But is that the full story? In his PhD research, Dr. Pepijn Tuinier, senior policy advisor at the Dutch Ministry of Defence and professor at the Netherlands Defence Academy, challenges this notion. His study reveals that social relations and trust play a far greater role in intelligence cooperation than often assumed.
As an active member of the ICE Academic Network, Tuinier explores how shared identities and personal networks foster cooperation within the EU intelligence community. Through in-depth interviews with senior intelligence professionals, he demonstrates that, far from being a shadowy world of secrecy and rivalry, intelligence services—like other organizations—thrive on interaction, goodwill, and mutual understanding.
Italian Award “A Thesis for National Security”. Conclusion of the sixth edition
On December 10th, the sixth edition of “A Thesis for National Security” prize ceremony, promoted by the Security Intelligence Department (DIS) took place in Rome, at the headquarters of the Italian Intelligence System. The event was attended by Alfredo Mantovano, the Undersecretary of State to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers - Delegated Authority for the Security of the Republic, the Director General of DIS, Elisabetta Belloni and the Directors of the Italian Intelligence Agencies.
The award aims at bringing the younger generation closer to the world of intelligence, promoting and encouraging studies on topics related to national security.
It was launched in 2014 as part of the activities to promote security culture, and over time, the competition has witnessed an increasing relevant involvement of the university world, and has become an annual initiative: more than 100 recent graduates from more than 40 national universities have participated.
This initiative represents yet another sign of the Intelligence's openness to the outside world and the solidity of its relationship with civil society and the university environment.
In this edition (2023-2024), 7 participants were rewarded with a prize worth €2,500 each for the best master thesis, rated no less than 105/110, on the following topics, among others: geopolitics and international relations; threats to national security; law, doctrine and history of intelligence; economic and financial security.
These are the winners selected by an internal Committee:
- Samuele Bernardi, University of Pisa, From EU strategic autonomy to EU public order and security. Towards the framing of an “EU strategic security”?;
- Roberto Colle, University of Trento, Democratic control of the information and security services: Historical and comparative aspects of a current issue;
- Edoardo Liberati, Sapienza University of Roma, Efficient, Reusable and High Error Tolerant Fuzzy Extractor for Physical Unclonable Functions;
- Alessandro Lotto, University of Padova, BARON: Base-Station Authentication Through Core Network for Mobility Management in 5G Networks;
- Matteo Marras, University of Torino, The defence of national interests and Chinese investments in Italy;
- Martina Serao, University of Roma Tre, The strategic competition between European Union and Russian Federation: A Net assessment analysis;
- Maria Vittoria Zucca, University of Trento, Cybercrime in healthcare: history, diagnosis, and prognosis of an IT “disease.”.
The seventh edition of the Award is ongoing and you can find it on the Italian Intelligence website www.sicurezzanazionale.gov.it.
ANIMV and ESDC: Expert Course on Hybrid Threats in Bucharest
Week 43, the Romanian Intelligence Academy “Mihai Viteazul” (ANIMV) and the European Security and Defence College (ESDC) Doctoral School organised a very dynamic and high-quality Advanced Expert Course on Hybrid Threats in Bucharest.
This course, open to ESDC Doctoral School students and intelligence practitioners from both Member States and EU institutions, was of impressive quality!
The Permanent Secretariat of ICE, an associate network partner of ESDC, which had already been invited in 2022 to the ESDC Doctoral School annual conference, was more than happy to support this initiative, bridging academic and intelligence expertise on these complex types of threats!
After presenting the EU intelligence and security setup, including on Hybrid Threats (with a special focus on the EU Hybrid Fusion Cell created in 2016 within EU INTCEN), the ICE.PS Director emphasized the impact of the hybrid thematic on the EU intelligence structure, as well as EU-NATO cooperation. Following this, in a more concise manner, the possible role of ICE in building a stronger European strategic culture—a crucial feature when addressing hybrid threats—was explained.
The high quality of the participants made this advanced expert course exceptionally dynamic and interactive!
Congratulations to ANIMV and to the ESDC Doctoral School!
ICE / SIAC ANALYTICAL COURSE
In October 2024, in accordance to the SIAC-ICE Letter of Intention for cooperation signed in the Ecole Royale Militaire, the Intelligence College in Europe (ICE) academic network has delivered a joint Analytical course to the SIAC Analysts.
This second edition is participating to the joint civilian-military culture of EUMS.INT and EU INTCEN Analysts, regrouped in the Single Intelligence Analysis Capacity.
A good example of what an european intelligence culture could mean practically !
The Spanish Intelligence Academy from CNI, the Romanian Intelligence Academy (ANIMV) from SRI and the multinational Osint Center of Excellence of Zagreb have united their forces to deliver this crosscutting European course.
FIRST ICE ACADEMIC NETWORK OUTREACH ACTION IN BRUSSELS - Disinformation and National Security
On the 13th of May, the ICE Academic network has conducted its first ever outreach action in order to promote the work of four of its academics, who have just issued the “Routledge Handbook of Disinformation and National Security”.
The event, which has taken place within the Brussels headquarters of IRSEM (Institut de recherche stratégique de l'École militaire) Europe, the European branch of the French MoD Think Tank, has taken place in two moments:
- A high level roundtable on the theme “Disinformation and FIMI”, where one representative of NATO Public Diplomacy Division, of the French Service VIGINUM and of a Member State service have discussed on the topic before interacting under Chatham rules with a large, but selected audience of EU actors on Disinformation, FIMI and Security,
- a Spotlight event, with the three ICE co-editors of the Routledge Handbook on Disinformation and National Security,
Dr Ruben Arcos, Dr Irena Chiru & Dr Cristina Ivan, interacting mainly with European think-tankers.
These side-by-side events were open only under invitations and were targeting only known experts of the domain. This exclusive audience has been particularly active & reactive during the roundtable, which had to be extended from the planned one hour and a half to nearly two hours. The interest of the exchanges was such that a certain number of the first attendees have decided to stay to have the chance to interact with the scientific contributors of the first Routledge comprehensive scientific publication on the Disinformation topic.
This very first ICE Academic network action has allowed ICE to highlight and promote in Brussels the joint research effort of some of its Academics and to contribute to a common strategic culture in the Intelligence & Security domain.
This event, conducted just before the Second ICE Academic Conference, which will take place soon in Spain, will pave the way for another ICE academic event, end of this year, to mark the special edition of the International Journal for Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence (IJICI) on the Common European Strategic Intelligence culture.
The Intelligence College in Europe, which is celebrating this year its fifth anniversary, is proud, on top of its core training mission (making itself a sort of “Intel Erasmus”) and its security awareness actions, to be able to promote the joint efforts of the ICE Academics.
First Academic Conference in Bucharest in May 2023
The first Academic Conference of the Intelligence College in Europe (ICE), organized by the Romanian Presidency, took place on May 4th, 2023, in Bucharest. The event marked the 30th anniversary of the ‘Mihai Viteazul’ Romanian Intelligence Academy (ANIMV) and highlights its longstanding commitment to intelligence training and education in Romania. Initiated by the Italian Presidency in 2022, the conference aimed to strengthen cooperation between the College’s Academic Network and the broader academic community. Due to logistical considerations, the conference was held in a hybrid format, with representatives from 10 member countries attending in person.
The opening session included introductions of network members and academic institutions, followed by a keynote address from the Director of the Permanent Secretariat, who underscored the importance of collaborative efforts in developing ICE initiatives, the need for specialized clusters of expertise, and potential areas for future educational and research endeavors.
A panel discussion on the future of intelligence education and research featured contributions from academics representing different countries that shared insights on key topics in the field. A subsequent roundtable focused on existing outreach initiatives at the national level and explored opportunities for further collaboration and development of new projects.
The next academic conference will continue to build on these foundations and will further enhance collaboration and innovation in intelligence education and research.
Narcotrafficking: A European perspective
Seminar on Intelligence and Decision Making, Madrid
