Experience of EDI grant holders from ECC 2026 in Brno

 

"The grant was very crucial for me because I could not attend the conference without it. Thanks to it, I could participate in a major international conference on my field of study, media studies, after almost 8 years. This opportunity gave me the chance to familiarize myself with current and emerging research strands in my field of media research and to connect with several scholars who share my research interests for collaboration."

Ozan Aşık, Bursa Uludag University, Turkiye

"Participating in ECC 2026 in Brno was a wonderful opportunity to present my research, receive valuable feedback, and exchange ideas with colleagues from across Europe. I am very grateful to ECREA for the support that made my participation possible and for its continued commitment to fostering an inclusive and supportive academic community."

Laura Cervi, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain

"Participating in ECC 2026 in Brno was a wonderful opportunity to exchange ideas, connect with fellow researchers, and reflect on the future of communication research. I especially appreciated the warm welcome and sense of community, and I am grateful for ECREA’s support in making this experience possible."

Shahira S Fahmy, Egypt, ICA Fellow

 

"I would like to express my hearfelt gratitude to the ECREA EDI Grant and its subcommittee. This support made it possible for me to attend ECC 2026, present my research, connect with fellow scholars, and learn from their work. It has been an incredibly enriching experience, especially at this stage of my doctoral studies, and one that I would not have been able to have without your help."

Sender Godoy, University of Huelva, Spain

"I am deeply grateful to have received the ECREA EDI Grants, which included a conference fee waiver, a travel grant, and an accommodation grant. With this funding support, I was able to attend my first ECC conference (one of my favourite conferences!) and present my paper on user-generated nation branding in Japan and China. These grants are particularly meaningful to me, not only because they enabled me to share my work and build professional networks as an early-career researcher, but also because they gave me the opportunity to participate in an international conference in person, an opportunity I had not have in the past three years due to a lack of funding support. The positive experience I gained through the conference will support me as I continue my academic journey, with hope and passion."

Yunyi Liao, UK-based independent scholar

 

"Thank you very much to the ECREA EDI Sub-committee for this support. As a researcher from Ukraine, I deeply appreciate the EDI grant and the opportunity it provides to participate in the ECREA community, especially in these difficult war times. I am also very happy to encourage my students and PhD researchers to become involved in ECREA and to discover the ECC-2026."

Prof. Olesia Liubashenko, Kyiv,Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine

"ECREA holds a special place in my academic journey, as it was the first international conference I attended during my PhD. Returning this year as a faculty member was particularly meaningful, and I am truly thankful for the EDI grant, which made it possible for me to attend ECREA this year in Brno, Czech Republic."

Sonia Malos, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology of Târgu Mureș, Romania

 

"Receiving an EDI grant from ECREA was very important in enabling me to attend this 2026’s conference, especially as it coincided with my daughter’s school holiday period, which meant that I had to bring her with me. I would like to congratulate the EDI Committee on this initiative and on the consistent work it has been doing to promote greater equality, diversity, and inclusion among ECREA members."

Bianca Persici Toniolo, University of Beira Interior, Portugal

"In a context of a tremendous attack on the arts, humanities and social sciences in the UK, ECREA's EDI grant enabled my attendance to both the ECC conference and the pre-conference of the section I chair, Visual Cultures. Both events were fundamental for me to reconnect with visual colleagues across Europe, as well as to meet new ones. Afterwards I felt research-invigorated both through the stimulating presentations and posters at Vienna and Brno, as well as via opportunities emerging from the in-person sharing, discussing, and ideas exchanges. Thank you for supporting long term commitment to ECREA."

Patricia Prieto-Blanco, University of Lancaster, United Kingdom

 

"I strongly believe that the key to the resilience of society in periods of crisis is diversity—both in terms of opinions and ideas and in terms of representation. Being a scholar from a war-affected country and a scholar at a small regional university can be a double challenge for a professional career and personal growth. So, I want to express my gratitude to the EDI Subcommittee for its financial support. It gave me the opportunity to come to Brno and stay here for the entire conference, attend the preconference methodological workshops, and present my paper in a panel session. I embraced this opportunity to learn new methods, update my knowledge, and network with colleagues from other countries. It gave me a feeling of inclusion in the international community and inspired me to continue my work."

Anastasiia Simashova, Kamianets-Podilskyi Ivan Ohiienko National University, Ukraine

"I'm very grateful for the opportunity to participate in ECC 2026 in Brno and to present my research on digital interaction between authorities and citizens during times of crisis in Russia. I would like to sincerely thank ECREA for creating a space that supports academic diversity, intellectual exchange and academic freedom. For me, participating in ECC 2026 was particularly meaningful as it provided an opportunity to share my PhD research with an international academic community, receive valuable feedback, and engage in open discussions with scholars working on political communication and digital media in non-democratic countries."

Daniil Volkovskii, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France

"I am deeply grateful to the ECREA EDI subcommittee for supporting my participation in ECC 2026 in Brno. The ECREA EDI Conference Grant made it possible for me to attend the conference and present my research on rumour narratives as collective sensemaking during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As this was my first experience of such a large international academic conference, I especially valued the opportunity to exchange ideas with scholars working on crisis communication and uncertainty. The discussion around my presentation led to new professional connections, one of which has already developed into a concrete collaboration between StopFake and TU Ilmenau. I returned from Brno with new ideas, new professional contacts, and a strong sense that this work is worth continuing. I am very thankful for this support, which made this experience especially valuable and opened the door to new international cooperation."

Olga Yurkova, National Technical University of Ukraine, Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Ukraine