MCI Succeeds at Health Research Award 2026

Seven MCI graduates recognized for outstanding academic work in the health sector

Recently, the Health Research Award 2026 was presented as part of the “Krankenhausmanagerkongress” in Eisenstadt, Austria. The award recognizes outstanding diploma and master’s theses from Austrian universities of applied sciences in the field of health and helps highlighting innovative contributions from academic practice.

A total of 39 theses were submitted across the four categories Climate and Health, Health Care Provision, Health Promotion, and Healthcare Management. We are very pleased that graduates of the two MCI master’s programs International Health & Social Management (IHSM) and European Health Economics & Management (Eu-HEM) were represented among the award winners in all four categories.

A particular highlight was the success of Erin Cornelisse (Eu-HEM), who received 1st place in Climate and Health. Her master’s thesis was thereby recognized as the best submission in this category.

Also in the Climate and Health category, Chiara Di Vico (IHSM) was awarded 3rd place. For the category Healthcare Management, 2nd place went to Lilli Anna Pellizzari (IHSM), while Madeleine von Braunmühl (Eu-HEM) received 3rd place.

In the category Health Care Provision, the two Eu-HEM graduates Esmee Jeniskens and Merel Mattheij were also successful, achieving 2nd and 3rd place respectively. In the category Health Promotion, Julian Schmidhofer (IHSM) was awarded 3rd place.

These results impressively demonstrate the high quality of the theses completed at MCI and their relevance to current developments in the health sector. The award-winning theses make valuable contributions to current academic and practice-oriented discussions.

We warmly congratulate our graduates on their outstanding achievements and are delighted that their work has been recognized as part of the Health Research Award 2026.

The implementation of the award is made possible through financial support from the Competence Center for Climate and Health in the Climate and Health category, the Competence Center for the Future of Health Promotion in the Health Promotion category, and ARGE der Krankenhausmanager Burgenland in the Healthcare Management category.