The European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) is excited to present the EAACI Annual Meeting Clinical Research Challenge (CRC). This unique competition is designed for medical students and early career researchers in the field of allergy and clinical immunology up to the age of 23 years. Critically evaluating and applying primary literature is an essential skill for clinical practitioners and researchers. This innovative competition offers teams of three participants the opportunity to engage in an EAACI online journal club, submit a letter of intent, and develop a clinical research proposal. Plan now to participate and showcase your expertise and creativity in advancing allergy and clinical immunology research. Don’t miss this chance to enhance your skills and make a significant impact in our field! See you in Istanbul 2026!

Rules and regulations EAACI Annual Meeting Clinical Research Challenge (CRC)

Eligibility and exclusion criteria:

• Participants must be 23 years old or younger in the year 2026. This means that any applicant born in 2003 or later is eligible.
• Participation in the EAACI Annual Meeting Clinical Research Challenge (CRC) is voluntary and free of charge. The competition is open to medical and biomedical students or early career researchers up to this age limit, from accredited institutions worldwide, who are EAACI members. Each team must consist of three participants from the same institution.

Team Registration:

• A faculty member from the participating institution must complete the initial online registration form. Each team will provide the names and email addresses of each team member by the registration deadline, 30^th December, 2025. Eligibility of all team members will be confirmed before the team can compete and an email will be send to the ones that are eligible together with the material for the exam.

(Find the link to register your team at the end of this page).

Eligible criteria: 

• Active EAACI membership
• Participants are all junior members
• There are 3 different participants
• Each participants can participate only in one team
• A participant can’t be also a faculty member in his team or in another one
• A faculty member can join in more than 1 team

Competition Format

• The Challenge will be conducted virtually and consists of two rounds:

Round 1: Online EAACI Journals Club Examination

• Teams will review a provided piece of literature from one of the EAACI journals (Allergy, Pediatric Allergy and Immunology or Clinical and Translational Allergy) and complete a set of online multiple-choice and true/false questions based on the material. (Selection of articles of each journal and questions are prepared by EAACI JMAs members)
• The examination portal will be open from 8:00 AM to midnight (CET) on the scheduled day. (Further information will be announced soon upon the specifications of the platform that will be used)

• Teams will complete a set of online multiple choice (they will participate together from one computer as one team) based on the provided literature on the scheduled examination date under the supervision of their registering faculty member or his/her designee. Potential question topics may include but are not limited to:
  • Study Design/type of trial
  • Null hypothesis
  • Informed consent
  • Inclusion/exclusion criteria
  • Method(s) of randomization
  • Data collection methods
  • Definition and application of statistical tests
  • Statistical Calculations
  • Duration of treatment/length of follow up
  • Primary and secondary outcome measures
  • Adverse Drug Events
  • Internal/External Validity
  • Power
  • Risk of Type I/ Type II Error
  • Study strengths
  • Potential bias/confounders
  • Study limitations
  • Impact on clinical practice

• Teams may refer to the text and figures contained in the selected Online Journal Club literature. If printed materials are used, only clean copies are permitted. Any documents with additional notations are prohibited. Again, each team is responsible for obtaining the chosen literature and obeying all copyright constraints. Only the three-member student team may confer and or discuss the item in formulating their answer. No student participant may use any additional outside text or electronic resource not previously specified and may not solicit input from any other individual. Students and/or institutions found in violation of this policy are subject to disqualification.
• A team must complete all the questions in the time of 30 minutes. Teams will NOT receive real time feedback if an answer to a given item is correct or incorrect. All items in the Online Round Journal Club are of equal value. Examinations will be scored by the percentage of items answered correctly.
• Teams achieving the top 10 scores will advance to Round 2: Research Protocol Development. In the event of a tie, the top 10 scores will be determined by the time required to complete the online journal club exam. All examinations will be time stamped. Time spent viewing instructional pages will NOT count toward examination time.

Round 2: Research Protocol Development

• Teams will develop a complete research proposal based on the given criteria.
• Proposals must be submitted online by the deadline 26th February, 2026.
• The top proposals will be evaluated and the winning teams will be announced by 19th March 2026.

Evaluation Criteria

• Submissions will be evaluated on various criteria, including Background and Rationale, Hypothesis and Specific Aims, Innovation, Design and Methods, Timeline and Budget Adherence, Future Impact, and Overall Document Construction.
• The final score will be determined by calculating the mean of the ratings for each of these criteria. The ratings will be conducted by the JMA representatives of the journals and the EAACI JMA leadership, ensuring a fair and consistent evaluation process across all submissions.

Final Presentation

• The top three teams will present their research designs at the 2026 EAACI Annual Meeting. Each member of the winning teams will receive complimentary registration for the Annual Meeting and a cash prize.

Important Dates

• Registration Deadline: 30 December 2025
• Round 1 Examination: 28 January 2026
• Research Proposal Submission Deadline: 26 February 2026
• Winner Announcement: 19 March 2026

Prepare to showcase your research skills, gain valuable experience, and contribute to the advancement of allergy and asthma research. Join the EAACI Annual Meeting Clinical Research Challenge (CRC) and be part of this exciting journey!

Prizes:

Gold Team:

• Three complimentary full student registrations for the EAACI Annual Meeting and reimbursement of travel and accommodation costs.
• Invitation to present their research design at the Annual Meeting poster session
• Individual plaques and a team trophy
• An institutional award plaque to the institution of the winning team

Silver Team:

• Three complimentary full student registrations for the EAACI Annual Meeting and reimbursement of travel and accommodation costs.
• Invitation to present their research design at the Annual Meeting poster session
• Individual certificates suitable for framing

Bronze Team:

• Three complimentary full student registrations for the EAACI Annual Meeting and reimbursement of travel and accommodation costs.
• Invitation to present their research design at the Annual Meeting poster session
• Individual certificates suitable for framing