Meet the Winners of the UNIC Best Paper and Best CityLab Awards 2026

This year, the Best Paper Awards go to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Linda Palla of Malmö University and Dr Monika Kaźmierczak of the University of Lodz for two original contributions that challenge established ways of thinking about education, communication, and institutional practice. The Best CityLab Award goes to Ruhr University Bochum for “Cultural Diversity, Integration and Anti-Racism,” a collaborative initiative that connects research-based learning with anti-racism work and civic engagement in Bochum. 

Together, the 2026 winners show how UNIC research and CityLabs can open up new perspectives on superdiversity, social justice, and inclusive urban transformation. 

Best Paper Award 2026: Linda Palla, Malmö University

Assoc. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Linda Palla

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Linda Palla of Malmö University has been selected as a winner of the UNIC Best Paper Award 2026 for her article, “The need for speed: identification of ‘the deviant’ as the ultimate goal for high returns in early childhood education and care.” 

The paper examines how early childhood education and care institutions define, identify, and respond to children positioned as being in need of special support. It challenges the assumption that speed, efficiency, and early identification are always beneficial, showing how such logics can narrow understandings of children and contribute to the construction of “deviance.” 

The UNIC paper assessment committee praised the study for its substantial theoretical contribution, particularly its connection between early childhood education and care policies and wider questions of power, governance, and social justice. The committee described the article as analytically strong, consistently presented, and conceptually innovative. 

“I am deeply honoured to receive the UNIC Best Paper Award 2026. This recognition is especially meaningful as it affirms the importance of critically interrogating how early childhood education and care defines, identifies, and responds to children positioned as in need of special support. 

The article challenges the taken-for-granted assumption that speed, efficiency, and early identification are inherently beneficial. Instead, it highlights how such logics risk narrowing our understanding of children, positioning some as ‘deviant’ in ways that call for reflection rather than rapid categorisation. 

I am grateful that the committee acknowledged the study’s attempt to bring questions of power, governance, and social justice into focus, and to open up space for more careful, ethically attuned practices. My hope is that this work contributes to ongoing critical dialogue within the UNIC community about how we might support children without reducing them to problems to be solved. My sincere thanks to the committee for this generous recognition.” 

Best Paper Award 2026: Dr Monika Kaźmierczak, University of Lodz

Dr. Monika Kaźmierczak

Dr. Monika Kaźmierczak of the University of Lodz has also been selected as a winner of the UNIC Best Paper Award 2026 for her paper, “A Proposal for a Non-Antagonistic Approach to Disorder and Order in Cluttering.” 

The paper offers a new way of thinking about cluttering and human communication. By applying Chaos Theory and the concept of “chaosmos,” it moves beyond binary distinctions between “order” and “disorder” and invites a more inclusive understanding of non-standard communicative patterns. 

The UNIC paper assessment committee commended the paper as an innovative and coherent contribution to speech-language pathology. It highlighted the study’s relevance to superdiversity, communicative identity, institutional recognition, and more inclusive approaches to communication therapy. 

“Receiving the UNIC award is a great honor for me and an important sign that, within discussions on diversity, research perspectives that broaden the way we think about order and norms in language and communication are valued. I see this award as an encouragement to continue my research on cluttering — a phenomenon that often challenges listeners’ comfort and confidence. At the same time, I believe that this experience of communicative ambiguity and uncertainty is especially important both cognitively and socially, as it highlights how much remains to be explored in the area of diverse forms of communication. The UNIC award is also a recognition of people who clutter, who everyday show that their way of speaking is a unique linguistic and communicative experience that genuinely affects the quality of life, social relationships, and their need to be understood by others. It is an honor and a pleasure for me to receive this award.” 

Dr Monika Kaźmierczak presenting her research during the award ceremony

Best CityLab Award 2026: Ruhr University Bochum

Prof. Dr. Sandra Aßmann, Dr. Catharina Keßler, and Dr. Daniel Schumann

The UNIC Best CityLab Award 2026 has been awarded to Ruhr University Bochum for the CityLab “Cultural Diversity, Integration and Anti-Racism,” led by Prof. Dr. Sandra Aßmann, Dr. Catharina Keßler, and Dr. Daniel Schumann. 

The CityLab was selected for its strong transdisciplinary and co-creative approach to addressing racism, discrimination, and inclusion in institutional and urban contexts. It brought together university actors, municipal departments, civil society organisations, students, and private-sector experts, making participation and research collaboration central to the process. 

The project was developed in cooperation with the City of Bochum, Amnesty International Regional group Bochum und Adult Continuing Education (ACE) at UCC, plus further initiatives. Through these partnerships, the CityLab connected anti-racism, multilingualism, and welcoming culture with broader questions of democratic participation, social inclusion, and sustainable urban development. 

The committee particularly highlighted the CityLab’s integration into the academic curriculum through research-based learning. Students worked with partners beyond the university classroom, helping to create long-term cooperation between Ruhr University Bochum and the City of Bochum. The initiative offers a transferable model for future UNIC CityLabs that aim to combine education, civic engagement, and urban impact. 

“Deeply humbled to receive the UNIC CityLabs Award for our collaborative project! What made this experience especially valuable to us as researchers was the close collaboration between students, the city administration, and civil society organisations, whose different perspectives greatly enriched both the process and its outcomes. It is wonderful to see what can emerge when teaching and learning move beyond the classical university classroom and students and stakeholders outside academia take on an active role in shaping the process together.” 

Chris Katzeberg and Dr. Judith Ricken presenting the project on behalf of the winners

Congratulations to the 2026 Winners 

UNIC warmly congratulates Assoc. Prof. Dr. Linda Palla, Dr Monika Kaźmierczak, and the Ruhr University Bochum CityLab team on their achievements. 

Their work reflects the ambition of the UNIC alliance: to connect excellent research, inclusive education, and meaningful collaboration with cities and communities.