Portugal stood out for the best possible reasons at the STARawards ceremony of the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) which took place in Warsaw, Poland, being the country with the most awards.

The polish capital hosted, from the 7th to the 10th of April, the Annual General Meeting (AGM), the most important statutory event of one of the biggest student associations in Europe, the Erasmus Student Network. More than 800 students represented around 50 Higher Education Institutions from 38 different countries to discuss the future of the organisation, present the international projects to the network, elect the next International Board, among other topics.

On the last night of AGM, 10th of April, the winners of the ESN STARawards have been announced. These awards distinguish what was done best during the 2015/2016 academic year in 17 categories, such as projects, events, campaigns, videos, sections, and countries.
The voting, done by members of the different international Committees and Project Teams composed by students from several different countries, has honoured Portugal with 8 awards, including two of the most important: 1st place, STARland (best country) — ESN Portugal; 1st place, STARlight (best section) — ESN Lisboa; 1st place, Mov'inEuropeSTAR (best mobility event) — ESN Minho; 1st place, ESNcardSTAR (best ESNcard management) — ESN Lisboa; 1st place, — ESN Madeira; 2nd place, ESN Covilhã, movieSTAR (best video); 2nd place, campaignSTAR (best campaign) — National Boards' Meeting Lisboa.

Other high moments of the event were the international Flag Parade and Infomarket. The first one was a parade which intends to promote the unity in cultural diversity, where the participants boast their country flags and sing traditional songs, in a route properly marked by security elements. The second day consisted of an international mobility fair where each ESN section had the opportunity to promote the Higher Education possibilities in their region, as well as a bit of their tourism by giving away informational brochures and merchandising to thousands of local students. It is also worth mentioning that several sections, including Portuguese, have been financed for this event due to the promotion of their Higher Education Institutions.