2025 cycle "AI, Bias and the New Europe" has officially ended... Awardees announced on the Official page
“Algorithms do not eliminate human bias; they encode it, replicate it, and can amplify it at scale. In doing so, they risk transforming social inequalities into automated, invisible structures of power.”
— Virginia Eubanks, Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor, St. Martin’s Press, 2018, p. 15.
2025 Official Essay Instructions
"Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the social fabric of Europe, influencing public institutions from healthcare to law enforcement. This transformation presents both profound opportunities and significant risks: AI can either reinforce entrenched social biases or become a tool to advance justice and equality. For the 2025 European Sociological Essay Olympiad, we invite participants to critically examine this dual role of AI, engaging deeply with sociological theory, empirical case studies, and ethical considerations surrounding AI governance in Europe."
— Statement from the ESEO Executive Board
Prof. Elena Kotsiopoulos, Chair
Dr. Marc-André Dupont, Senior Researcher
Prof. Sofia Müller, Academic Coordinator
Dr. Luca Bianchi, Assessment Chair
Prof. Ingrid Svensson, Ethics Committee Chair
2025 Key Dates
**Note: The dates listed on this website and in all official ESEO materials apply exclusively to the 2025 competition cycle.
Participating delegations, institutions, and students should carefully consult these deadlines to ensure timely submissions and compliance with the competition schedule. All key dates — including topic proposal submissions, participant nomination deadlines,essay submission dates, and result announcements — will be updated annually for future editions of ESEO.
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Each national delegation is responsible for confirming these dates directly with their selected participants and ensuring that all entrants are informed of any relevant national deadlines and submission requirements.
Please refer exclusively to this page for the official and current ESEO competition schedule.
January 10, 2025
Official announcement of ESEO 2025, with regulations, eligibility details, and participation invitations sent to all eligible European national delegations.
February 20, 2025
Final deadline for national delegations to confirm their participation in ESEO 2025.
March 1, 2025
Deadline for each participating delegation leader to submit one essay topic proposal to the ESEO Secretary General.
March 30th, 2025
Deadline for national delegations to officially register and nominate up to two student participants for ESEO 2025.
April 10th, 2025
Official announcement of the essay topics for the 2025 competition. Topics are published on the ESEO website and emailed to all registered participants and delegation leaders. Participants also receive their official ESEO welcome email, including submission instructions, essay formatting requirements, Code of Ethics, and assessment guidelines.
April 10th – July 29th, 2025
Official essay writing and submission period. Participants may submit their essays at any time during this window.
July 30, 2025 (23:00 CET)
Final deadline for essay submission. No late entries will be accepted after this date.
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August 15th– September 15th, 2025
Essay assessment and grading period by the international panel of assessors.​
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September 20th 2025
Final review and award decisions by the ESEO Academic Committee.
September 30th, 2025
Official announcement of results and distinctions.
Notifications of awards and participation certificates are emailed directly to all participants and national delegations. Additionally, award recipients are officially announced on the ESEO website following the results release.
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*Please note: Awardees may be contacted to provide consent for the publication of their essay on the official ESEO website as a reference example for future candidates. Publication occurs only with the participant’s written approval.
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*Essay submission Format*
All essays must be submitted according to the following guidelines to ensure uniformity and anonymity in the evaluation process:
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Submission Method:
Essays must be sent via email to the official ESEO submission address: essays@eusocolympiad.org
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Email Subject Line:
The email subject line must clearly state:
“ESEO 2025 – [Full Name of Participant] – [Country Name]”
Example: ESEO 2025 – Mark Johnson– Poland
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Attachment Format:
Essays must be submitted as a single PDF document attachment. The file name must follow this exact format:
“ESEO 2025 [Participant Full Name] [Country]”
Example: ESEO 2025 Anna Novak Poland.pdf
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Inside the PDF (Title Page):
The first page of the PDF (title page) must include:-
Full Name of the Participant
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Participant’s Email Address
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Delegation’s Official Email Address
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Country of citizenship
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Language of the Essay (selected from: English, French, German, Spanish)
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Essay Title: AI, Bias and the New Europe
No other identifying information should appear within the body of the essay.
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Deadline Compliance:
Submissions must be received by the designated 2025 Essay Submission Date on July 30th, 11:00 pm (UTC). Late entries will not be accepted under any circumstances.
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*Important Note on Formatting Compliance
Once participants are officially enrolled, they will receive a confirmation email containing:
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The official essay topic
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Full essay instructions and formatting requirements (as noted above)
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Key competition dates and deadlines
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Failure to comply with formatting instructions will not result in immediate disqualification. However:
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The ESEO Executive Board will notify both the participant and their national delegation of any formatting errors.
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Essays submitted incorrectly will be reviewed last in the evaluation process and placed at a disadvantage.
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Participants will have the opportunity to resubmit their essay in the correct format before the final submission deadline of July 30th, 2025.
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Essays that remain incorrectly formatted after the deadline will not be reviewed by the Academic Committee and will be excluded from consideration.
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For full submission procedures, requirements, and FAQs, please refer to competition@eusocolympiad.org , your delegation and the FAQs page.