28.04.2026

IRex PhD student Katja Sternberger wins first place in the scientific poster competition

Auszeichnung auf der DGSA-Jahreskonferenz für Wissenschaftlerin am Institut für Rechtsextremismusforschung

Katja Sternberger was awarded first place in the Barbara Budrich Poster Prize at the annual conference of the German Society for Social Work (DGSA), held last weekend in Mönchengladbach, for the academic poster on her research project concerning how professionals in the so-called disability support sector deal with far-right violence.

Both the poster and the dissertation project address a gap in the documentation and research on far-right violence: people with cognitive impairments and institutions in the so-called disability support sector. The poster illustrates, on the one hand, the research design of their project on how professionals deal with far-right violence in so-called disability support services, and, on the other hand, it serves as a reminder of the at least twelve fatalities resulting from right-wing violence involving people with (attributed) disabilities, as well as suspected cases, since 1990.

The research into how professionals deal with right-wing violence forms part of the inter- and transdisciplinary collaborative research and transfer project MAVIOPA (Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences, IRex), led by Prof. Dr Christiane Leidinger (HSD) and Prof. Dr Heike Radvan, which systematically analyses far-right violence against people with (cognitive) disabilities, professional responses to it, and forms of resistance for the first time.

The DGSA Poster Award

Every year at the DGSA Congress, researchers can showcase their projects in the form of a scientific poster and present them in an exhibition as a display alongside a short elevator pitch. The best posters are selected and awarded prizes by a jury. The Barbara Budrich Poster Prize for Emerging Researchers has now been awarded in collaboration with the German Society for Social Work (DGSA) for five years. The award recognises posters that demonstrate outstanding theoretical and content-related quality, methodological rigour and visual presentation. The winners receive book vouchers for the Barbara Budrich Verlag catalogue, with a total value of 600 EUR. Katja Sternberger received a certificate and a voucher worth 300 euros for her poster presentation.

The DGSA Annual Conference took place on 24 and 25 April 2026 at the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences in Mönchengladbach under the title “Authoritarian Shifts in the Social Sphere: Anti-democratic Developments and Interventions in Social Work Contexts”. IRex/University Communications

Further information:

• Website Katja Sternberger
• Website MAVIOPA
• Website Barbara Budrich bzw. DGSA-Posterpreis

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