Students of the Eötvös Student Chapter worked on a geothermal case study for ten weeks. The team won the european regional round of the 2026 competition, so they qualified for the final taking place in Houston USA in August.
Master’s students in geology and geophysics from the Faculty of Science at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) have achieved a significant success at the Imperial Barrel Award (IBA), an international competition organized by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG). The AAPG Eötvös Student Chapter team won the 2026 European regional round, securing a place in the prestigious international final.
The Imperial Barrel Award is one of the world’s most renowned geoscience student competitions, where participants conduct complex geological and geophysical analyses based on real industry data. In recent years, the competition has increasingly focused on sustainability: alongside traditional hydrocarbon exploration, greater emphasis has been placed on carbon capture and storage (CCUS) and the utilization of geothermal energy.
The team members – (from left to right on the photo) Dániel Turai (geophysicist), Boglárka Illés (geophysicist), Péter Weisz (geophysicist), Gergő Glavanov (hydrogeologist, captain) and Bori Csende (geologist) – collaborated closely on the project. Their work was supported by professional mentors, including Ábel Markó (Supervisory Authority for Regulated Activities, ELTE), Tamara Tóthi (University of Twente, ELTE, HUN-REN Institute of Earth Physics and Space Science), and Dr. Brigitta Czauner (Department of General and Applied Geology, ELTE Faculty of Science).
Since early February, the team has been working on the provided dataset and study area, developing detailed geological and temperature models, performing structural analysis, proposing utilization strategies, and conducting a comprehensive risk assessment of the potential project. The first round of the competition was held online on April 24, 2026. The jury evaluated the team’s presentation—based on ten weeks of intensive research—as high quality, highlighting the excellent presentation, the strong integration of geological and geophysical data, and the sound methodological approach to risk assessment.
Thanks to their regional victory, the team will continue in the international final in Houston this August, where they will compete against top students from leading universities around the world.