We are happy to have selected three outstanding projects—Food Be Good, Roads of Europe, and The Taste of Science—as part of ERUA’s Bottom-Up Project Call for Students. This initiative invited students from at least two ERUA member institutions to submit joint proposals, with the opportunity to receive funding of up to €5,000 for projects commencing between February and April 2025.
Roads of Europe project is issuing a Call for applications looking for young amateur photographers that explore:
- Migratory journeys, exile, and crossings
Paths taken, obstacles faced, symbolic or transitional places. - Social, economic, and political stakes of migration
A visual dive into context, causes, or impacts. - Stories of life, resistance, and resilience
Portraits of courage, everyday moments, and human strength.
THE ROADS OF EUROPE: PHOTOGRAPHS OF AMIGRATORY JOURNEY is a project led by Focus 8, a student association founded by Master’s students in Cultural Policy and Management in Europe at Université Paris 8 Vincennes – Saint-Denis. Our mission? To create space for socially engaged, multicultural artistic expression.
The first major initiative will be to organise a photography exhibition on migration, focusing on France and the Mediterranean Balkans—particularly Bulgaria and Greece—as pivotal gateways to Europe.
As Susan Sontag once said, photographs are “fragments of the world” that help us understand its most urgent issues. With this in mind, we are inviting young amateur photographers (under 30) to lend us their lens and perspective.
Each participant may submit between 1 and 5 original photographs, free of rights for use within the framework of the project. The photographs may have been created prior to or specifically for this call for submissions.
Who can apply:
- Amateur photographers under 30 (all nationalities).
Selection criteria:
- Concept quality
- Visual and aesthetic strength
Selected artists will benefit from:
- Coverage of printing and framing costs.
- Insurance for the artworks.
- Digital promotion of the works and the artist (social media).
- Organization of a vernissage event.
📍 Note: You don’t need to explicitly reference France, Greece, or Bulgaria—but feel free to include context in your description.
How to apply:
To participate, please send a letter with the subject line: “LastName FirstName _ Focus 8 Exhibition” to the following address: focus8.association@gmail.com
The submission should include the following:
- Photographs (1 to 5, suitable for printing in 30 x 40 format).
- Application file including:
- Full name and age
- Email address
- Phone number
- A description of your works (300 words maximum).
TIMELINE:
- SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 13th April 2025/11:59PM CEST
- ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS: 21st April 2025
SUPPORT & PARTNERS:
This project is supported by the European Reform Universities Alliance (ERUA), under the Bottom-Up initiative, in collaboration with:
- New Bulgarian University
- University of the Aegean
Your work could be part of a traveling exhibition, opening at Université Paris 8 (France) and continuing to New Bulgarian University (Sofia, Bulgaria) and the University of the Aegean (Greece). Each stop will include community workshops, such as guided tours or creative sessions blending writing and photography, centered around migration and exile.
Selected works and materials will be published online and made freely available to the public.
We can’t wait to see your vision.
Follow us on Instagram @focus8asso
The Focus 8 Team:
- Martina Tramelli,
- Elise Lamidey,
- Nicolas Sklavos,
- Ludivine Briain,
- Mel Decorte
More information about the project you can find here!!
