Jury

An award is only as good as the reasons behind it. The open round decides who stands on the stage; it cannot, by itself, say why one work rather than another. That is what we are asking the Jury for — not authority, but reasons, written down and signed.

We are inviting about ten people for 2026. Most of them come from the community that has already been doing this work: voting in the open round, leaving comments, telling other people what they found.

What the Jury does

Everything is open to you

Every entered work is open to you, not only the finalists. The works come from ten fields and from a number of countries, and a good part of this role is simply looking at work you would never have gone looking for.

Choose one work in each of the ten fields

One best work per field, chosen from the finalists and the recommended works. Ten fields, so ten choices — including the fields you did not come for. That is deliberate: it means no field is decided only by the people who happened to care about it.

Or decide a field should have no winner

"No award" is one of the choices in every field. Deciding that a field should not have a winner this year is a decision like any other, and it is recorded as one. A field you do not reach by the deadline is simply read the same way — there is nothing to hurry for, and nothing is lost by leaving it.

Write why

Each vote carries a critique. A vote with no reasons is authority deciding quietly, and this award does not have that. Your critiques are published with the result, with your name and your profile beside them.

One vote per field, the same as everyone else

A Jury member holds one vote per field — the same as everyone else in the final round — and cannot veto, override, or re-open a result. No payment, partnership, or office position changes the weight of a vote.

What you take on

Agreement to the Code of Conduct
A critique with each vote, as long or as short as you like. One line is enough
Declaring any work they were involved in, and not voting for it
Being named publicly as a Jury member, with a profile

What you receive

Credited on the site for their contribution to the award
Name, profile, and message published
Their critiques published with the result
An honorarium — an Amazon gift card — for a ballot completed across all ten fields with a message. Settlement against an invoice is available instead.
An AICU Academy 2027 licence, granted for one year

How judging works — the stages, the ten fields and the schedule →

Work you know can still enter

If there is work from 2025 or later that you think belongs in the record — work you have already seen and not forgotten — send the creator the entry link and the code we gave you. It waives the entry fee. There is still time.

Your code is in the message the office sent you.

See the works The entry page