Awards & Recognitions
The EU-funded IMPROVE project has received various awards and recognitions for its work fighting domestic violence. We thank everyone who contributed to this as a stakeholder, interviewee, external expert or otherwise.
Read below for more details!
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Within the framework of the University of Deusto – Santander Research Award “Research with Scientific and Social Impact”, the jury has granted one of the awards to IMPROVE, in recognition of its transformative potential and social impact.
The award ceremony took place on 10 June 2026 at the University of Deusto.
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We Encourage won the 2025 Security Innovation Award (SIA) with AinoAid™, awarded by the European Commission.
The winners by categories were announced on the first day of the Security Research Event (SRE) Conference in Warsaw on 24th June 2025 during the SIA Award Ceremony.
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The University of Deusto, within the framework of its 2025 Social Impact Label call, has awarded the IMPROVE project as one of the research initiatives that generate significant social impact. This recognition highlights the project's commitment to knowledge transfer to society and its real contribution to social transformation through research.
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IMPROVE was awarded, together with PLV GAMA’ s work, in the 5th Edition of USEC Awards Ceremony (Universal Security and Emergency Channel). It took place in Madrid in February 2025, in the frame of the Local Security Congress. Furthermore, it was also presented in the round table devoted to strategies to fight gender-based violence that took place during the Congress. The event was promoted by the USECIM news channel, lead by 7 LEAs of the most populated cities in Spain: Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, Zaragoza, Málaga and Murcia.
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We're delighted to announce that Valencia City Council, through the work of the Valencia Local Police (PLV), has been recognised in the 9th Good Practice Awards against Violence towards Women, organised by the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP). The award, in the "Assistance, Help, and Protection" category, acknowledges our contribution to the IMPROVE project, specifically the development and testing of the AinoAid™ chatbot offering support and protection to victims of gender-based violence.
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✰ 1st place Practice & Society: Neglected children, what to do? got by WWU
Domestic violence has many faces. One is child neglect, which also includes "dental neglect" - the neglect of oral health, which manifests itself in tooth damage and tooth decay. In these cases, responsible caregivers do not realize that treatment is necessary despite dental advice and do not keep appointments.
In order to help these children, Prof. Dr. Dr. Bettina Pfleiderer, from IMPROVE's partner Faculty of Medicine at the University of Münster, and her team have founded the "Dentists see more than teeth!" initiative, which has also been awarded 4,500 euros. At the heart of the initiative are specially developed training materials for students and practising dentists to impart in-depth knowledge so that affected children can be better identified and the right steps taken.
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To grow, a start-up needs networks, skills, resources and technology. IMPROVE's partner We Encourage, a Finnish start-up that supports victims of intimate partner violence, has used Microsoft's Founders Hub to boost the launch of its AI-based service.