Submissions

Author Guidelines

7th Edition (2023-2025) Bases

PURPOSE

To embody this vision in university work, the Razón Abierta Awards recognize those works that put a particular science into dialogue with philosophy and/or theology on any subject. It is about reaching the limits of each particular science and posing the fundamental questions that science itself cannot satisfy:

The question of the person or anthropological question
This question can be expressed as follows: What idea of ​​man underlies my discipline? Individualist or supportive? Purely historical or open to transcendence? Genetically predetermined or capable of freedom? What kind of man is built with this knowledge? And what kind of society?

The question of truth or epistemological question
This question is expressed in the following fundamental questions: Is what I teach and what I research true? What is the object and limit of my science and my method? What are the questions that take me to the frontiers of my science and that I cannot answer from it?

The question of good or ethical question
The questions about man and truth refer to the question of how one should act, both within the framework of scientific work and its technological applications and in the direction of one's own life. The ethical question always points to the ends of each science and its consequences.

The question of meaning
At the heart of every professor and student beats a need for meaning, both in their university work and in the ultimate questions. Is what I learn, teach or research worthwhile? What relationship does it have with the life that matters to me? Why and for what purpose do I do everything?

More information on the four questions of open reason

Those who address crucial problems of our time from an open reason will be especially valued.

The awards include two categories:

• Research Category.
  It includes articles and books, unpublished or published, that scientifically address a particular question from an open reasoning approach. The works submitted may not be older than five years.
• Teaching Category.
  It includes university academic programs (syllabus, teaching guides, curricular programs, methodological proposals, etc.) and initiatives that promote the comprehensive training of the person in a particular science and that explain in detail how open reasoning questions are integrated.

Participants

University professors and researchers of any nationality may apply for these awards, either individually or as a working group (in this case, the name of the coordinator or principal investigator must be specified).
Academic institutions or research institutes may also participate. When registering, it must be specified that the person applying is the institution itself, regardless of whether it does so through its researchers.
If the award is given to a working group, it will be distributed proportionally among the members of the team. If it is an entity, it will be paid directly.

Areas of knowledge

The awards are open to any area of ​​knowledge: arts and humanities, experimental sciences, health sciences, social and legal sciences, engineering and architecture.

PRIZE

Four awards of 25,000 euros each will be awarded, to be shared between the two categories (the amount of the awards is subject to the withholding tax applied according to tax regulations).
The winners undertake to participate in the awards ceremony and in a prior seminar with UFV professors, in which they will explain the main conclusions of their work. Both events will be held on consecutive days. Travel and accommodation costs will be covered by the Institute.
They will also be offered the opportunity to join a network of collaborators of the Razón Abierta Institute and to participate in its activities.
If the award is for collaborative work, the coordinator or the principal investigator will be the one to represent the group.
If the jury deems it appropriate, it may award special mentions to some works, whose authors will be invited to participate in the seminar and the awards ceremony, including travel and accommodation costs.

SUBMISSION OF WORKS

The submission of the works will be done through the website https://premios.razonabierta.org in the form provided for this purpose.

The following documents must be sent through the platform in English or Spanish:

• Summary of the work.
  Maximum 500 words.
  
  
• Supporting document.
  This document is understood as a reading guide for the work presented, and must clearly reflect why the work is considered to be open reason and how it takes into account anthropological, epistemological, ethical and meaning issues. The jury will take this document into special consideration to assess the relevance of the work in terms of the object of this call. The text, between 3,000 and 8,000 words, must be presented in accordance with the style rules of the UFV Publishing House.
  
  
• Work eligible for the award.
  It can be submitted in Spanish, English, Italian and French. The format is free. Works published after 2019 are accepted.
  
  
• Curriculum vitae of the author(s), in free format.

DEADLINES

The works may be submitted until March 21, 2025.

The jury's decision will be published on the Razonabierta website in July 2025.

CRITERIA OF MERIT CONSIDERED BY THE JURY

The following will be especially valued in the Research category:

• The quality and rigor in the knowledge of specific science and the methodology specific to the discipline.
• The topic's relevance and scientific, cultural and social relevance, as well as its originality.
• The integrative approach.
• The depth of the dialogue established between particular science and philosophy and/or theology.
• The solidity of the foundation of the anthropological, epistemological, ethical and meaning issues.
• The relevance and quality of the bibliography.
• The writing of the explanatory text according to the criteria of point IV of this call.

In the Teaching category, the following will be especially valued:

• The quality, timeliness and rigor in the knowledge of the specific science.
• The integrative approach.
• The solidity of the foundation of the anthropological, epistemological, ethical and meaningful issues.
• The timeliness and quality of the bibliography.
• The clarity of the underlying approach and the pedagogical adequacy.
• The originality of the proposed learning methodologies.
• The evidence of the impact on the comprehensive training of students. To this end, the works must include some type of measurement of the results obtained.

AUTHORSHIP, ORIGINALITY AND DISSEMINATION OF THE WORKS

Participation in this call implies full acceptance of the rules and agreement with the decisions of the jury, which will be final.
Participants guarantee that they are the authors of the works presented and that they have all the necessary permits to submit them to this award.

Razón Abierta Digital Repository

The participant agrees that, provided that the Scientific Committee gives its approval, the supporting document for his/her work or a summary of it will be published in the Razón Abierta Digital Repository. If he/she wishes, he/she may also consent to the publication of the complete work. All works published in the digital repository will be protected by the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

JURY

The jury will be composed of professors or researchers of recognized international prestige, who will be appointed by the Francisco de Vitoria University with the agreement of the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Foundation. The president of the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation and the rector of the Francisco de Vitoria University will act as co-presidents.
The jury will decide by majority of the votes cast. The prizes may be declared void if, in the opinion of the jury, the quality of the proposals received does not reach the required level.
All contestants expressly waive the right to challenge the award decision.

* These rules may be modified at any time without prior notice.