Nominations open for the ICDE Prizes of Excellence 2025

It is time for ICDE members to nominate candidates for the ICDE Prizes of Excellence 2025! Submit your candidates by Wednesday 3 September.

Since 1999, the ICDE Prizes of Excellence have rewarded individuals and institutions for their outstanding achievements in the field of inclusive, scalable, and sustainable education.

ICDE is now inviting nominations for this year’s prizes, which will be awarded in November 2025 during the 30th ICDE World Conference in Wellington, New Zealand.

Nominations must be submitted by completing the form at the end of this page no later than Wednesday 3 September 2025, 23:59 UTC+2. 

The ICDE Prizes of Excellence will be awarded in the following areas:

The Institutional Prize

This prize will be awarded to an institution, an association or a network of institutions for very significant achievements or contributions to the international community of open, flexible and distance learning (OFDL) during the past five years. This relates particularly to leadership and innovation through mainstream developments, which contribute to the continuing enhancement of OFDL across cultural and linguistic barriers.

The Individual Prize

This prize will be awarded for:

A: Very significant contributions to the field over the past five years. The prize will focus on rewarding innovation and progress in the field, as well as very significant contributions to the international community of OFDL during the past five years. 

B: The Individual Prize may also be awarded to individuals who have shown great leadership and excellence in the work of an educational association of open, flexible and distance education at national, regional or global level over the past 5-10 years, and moved the international agenda of collaboration forward in a decisive manner.

The Prize for Lifelong Contribution to the field

This prize will award significant lifelong contributions to the field. These lifelong achievements should represent significant contributions to the international community of OFDL.

Nomination procedures

  • Nominations can be made by confirmed ICDE Institutional or Individual members and can be for institutions and individuals.
  • Nominations should include a statement of support pointing out the concrete grounds for the nomination.
  • Nominations from Institutional members must be signed either by the Chief Executive of the nominating institution or by at least three Senior Academics of ICDE member institutions.
  • Self-nomination of an institution or individual is not permitted.
  • Nominations must be submitted using the form on this website.
  • The ICDE Board and its members may not nominate candidates, though the institutions they represent are allowed to nominate.

The Jury

Evaluation of the nominations will be carried out by an independent international jury consisting of three members who are active contributors in the field of inclusive, sustainable and scalable education.

Selection of prize winners

  • The selection will be based on merit alone and according to the nomination procedures and prize categories.
  • Prizes will be awarded only when the Jury agrees that a nominated candidate fulfills the criteria for excellence.
  • No political or cultural considerations will be made.
  • No member of ICDE Governance bodies may be eligible for the individual prize while in office.

THE FINAL DATE FOR RECEIPT OF NOMINATIONS IS WEDNESDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 2025, 23:59 UTC+2.

Any questions regarding the nominations should be directed to icde@icde.org, att. Anaïs Røed Malbrand.

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