It is important to acknowledge the crucial role of scientific communities in enabling MDPI to deliver OA at scale.

Without the participation of a global research community that engages with the OA publishing model, MDPI’s goal to make research free and accessible for everyone would not be possible. It is, therefore, important for MDPI to ensure that scholarly communities are supported and acknowledged beyond the publication process, and that they can benefit from OA at all stages of their careers.

MDPI’s 30 years of experience with OA publishing and engaging with scientific communities enables it to develop numerous avenues for academics to learn more about OA, gain valuable skills and further their careers. Whether it be through academic events, awards or resources, MDPI is committed to supporting researchers to achieve career growth and success.

This article outlines how MDPI supports researchers and the wider scholarly community through conferences, awards and resources.

Fostering collaboration with conferences

Academic conferences hold great importance in the scholarly community, bringing forth opportunities for industry experts to come together to address emerging challenges and discuss exciting advancements within their fields of study. The events bolster important relationships within scientific communities and hold many benefits for researchers, particularly those early on in their careers.

MDPI plays a key role in fostering lasting connections and collaborations as it hosts and participates in many conferences throughout the year across the world, covering numerous disciplines at both in-person and online events. In 2025, MDPI hosted 12 in-person events and 48 virtual events that totalled more than 28,000 attendees and included participation from keynote speakers, international diversity and inclusive networking formats.

Click here to learn more about The Importance of Academic Conferences.

Click here to be up to date about the latest conference events MDPI is involved with.

SciForum

Delivering high-quality conferences requires reliable event management. MDPI’s academic event management software, SciForum, empowers science through seamless event management and helps bring conferences and similar events to life.

The platform is easy to use and sign up to, supporting researchers to become more involved in the scientific community and find events that can boost their knowledge. Researchers can use the platform to find events relevant to their disciplines and research interests and engage with like-minded peers. SciForum also supports industries and communities to come together and share research, encourage collaboration and celebrate scholarly achievements.

SciForum hosts hundreds of events across scientific disciplines and makes the process of setting up and registering for events easy and straightforward, for both organisers and attendees.

Click here to explore SciForum and learn more about how to get involved.

Recognising excellence with awards

MDPI’s expansive awards programme has been running since 2016 to acknowledge the exceptional contributions of its scholarly community. The awards strengthen MDPI’s commitment to supporting researchers across all disciplines and stages of their careers.

The MDPI award scheme offers monetary prizes for all its awards, alongside the invaluable opportunities for recognition. Winners of MDPI awards also benefit from the prestige of an award title and increased visibility for them and their work. They are available to researchers at any stage of their career and Editorial Board members.

The awards help to inspire and motivate researchers across disciplines to make outstanding contributions to their fields. In 2025, MDPI journals granted more than 500 awards to more than 1100 winners that spanned 53 territories.

The awards MDPI offers are split into two categories: Journal awards and Flagship awards.

Journal awards

MDPI’s journal awards are presented annually on a journal-by-journal basis and recipients are decided by a committee of subject-specific experts on the journal’s Editorial Board. The awards include:

• Best Paper Award
• Young Investigator Award
• Best PhD Thesis Award
• Outstanding Reviewer Award
• Travel Award
• Editor of Distinction Award

These awards span numerous disciplines such as chemistry, environmental sciences and humanities. Journal awards are aimed at researchers across all stages of their careers, though many were conceived with early career researchers (ECRs) firmly in mind, such as the Young Investigator Award.

Click here to learn more about how MDPI is Empowering Early Career Researchers Through MDPI’s Journal Awards.

Flagship awards

The flagship awards hosted by MDPI are awarded to senior researchers whose contributions continue to have immense impact beyond MDPI. They include:

• Sustainability Awards
  • World Sustainability Award
  • Emerging Sustainability Leader Award
• Tu Youyou Award
• Michele Parrinello Award
• Jack Dangermond Award

These awards are typically accompanied with larger monetary prizes and are presented biennially.

Click here to learn more about MDPI Awards.

Sharing expertise with academic resources

There are a lot of skills and expertise that academics need to succeed in a research-based career. MDPI believes that such skills and knowledge should be openly accessible for the benefit of the academic community.

Academic publishing workshops (APWs)

As part of its initiatives to support researchers, MDPI offers expert-led sessions to equip academic authors with the necessary skills and knowledge to successfully publish their work.

MDPI’s APWs are hosted internationally by a range of experts to cover a wide variety of topics that can help academics prepare for a career in a highly competitive industry. The workshops cover numerous topics that can be customised based on the workshop’s needs, including:

• Manuscript preparation
• Introductions to MDPI and Open Access
• MDPI’s editorial process
• Research and publication ethics

Participants of MDPI’s workshops gain professional insight into the world of Open Access and publishing, improve their understanding of ethical standards and learn about the peer review process.

Click here to learn more about How MDPI’s Academic Publishing Workshops Can Empower Researchers.

Author Services

Researchers going through the process of writing and publishing their own manuscripts can feel overwhelmed by how much there is to consider.

MDPI Author Services are available to help researchers prepare their manuscripts for publication. This team of experts offers professional, certified manuscript editing in the following areas:

• Language editing
• Figure and table editing
• Graphical and video abstract editing
• Layout editing

Editing services can be incredibly beneficial for authors, particularly researchers who are early on in their careers and are approaching the publication process for the first time.

Click here to learn more about MDPI Author Services and get a quote.

Resources for the writing and publication process

Preparing a manuscript for publication can be a time-consuming and overwhelming process. There are many factors to consider when writing and publishing academic research and it can be a challenge for researchers at any stage of their career.

Having access to the right resources can make all the difference to a researcher looking for support in publishing a manuscript.

Click here to read our regularly updated resource on Guiding Researchers Through the Writing and Publication Process – covering basic tips and advice to help researchers with their manuscripts and learn about the writing process.

Stay informed

MDPI values the important work that researchers contribute to the scientific community and their significant impact on the success of the OA mission. Researchers at any stage of their career are encouraged to make use of the plentiful supportive opportunities available at MDPI that can further their knowledge, help provide resources and equip them with crucial skills.

This article will be kept up to date with MDPI’s opportunities and resources for supporting researchers.