WEGE Prize for Undergraduate and Graduate Students Worldwide open for who want to work together to re-think and re-design the way the economies work by creating regenerative solutions that have a widespread and lasting impact. WEGE Prize for Undergraduate and Graduate Students Worldwide is an annual competition that ignites game-changing solutions for the future by inspiring college/university students around the world to collaborate across institutional, disciplinary, and cultural limitations to reshape the way economies work.Partakers contend for over $30,000 (USD) in total cash prizes, all while helping to show the world what the future of problem solving looks like.
For WEGEPrize 2020 they will be revisiting the following problem: How can we create a circular economy?
WEGEPrize teams must leverage their trans-disciplinary makeup to collaboratively design and propose a solution to a wicked problem of their picking that can, in turn, help resolve the wicked problem of transitioning from a lined economic model to a circular economic model. Possible answers include, but are not limited to:
- Products
- Services
- Businesses/non-profit organizations
During the period of nine months and four distinctive phases, WEGEPrize teams will improve their thoughts from an informal research strategy into a totally industrialized solution that can be prototyped and tessted in the real world. Directed by straight response from competition judges, teams will work to reconsider and reshape the way economies work by making regenerative solutions that have a extensive and lasting positive impact.
Value of WEGE Prize for Undergraduate and Graduate Students Worldwide
Winning teams will split the following grants squarely between their five members:
- First Place: $15,000 (USD)
- Second Place: $10,000 (USD)
- Third Place: $5,000 (USD)
Eligibility for WEGE Prize for Undergraduate and Graduate Students Worldwide
Individual Participation Requirements
To be competent for WEGE Prize for Undergraduate and Graduate Students Worldwide, candidate must:
- Go to a college, university, or equivalent institution of higher education wherever in the world
- Be a scholar registered in a full-time (or equivalent) undergraduate or graduate program for the period of the competition*
*Equally undergraduate and graduate-level students are competent to contest. Teams can be comprised of both undergraduate and graduate students if they so choose.
Team Participation Requirements
To be worthy to partake in WEGEPrize 2020, teams must:
- Have exactly five members
- Represent minimum three (3) different academic disciplines*
- Embody minimum two (2) different institutions of higher education, such as colleges, universities, or separate colleges/schools within a larger university. (For example, a team member from Example University’s School of Engineering and a team member from Example University’s School of Earth Sciences would be considered as representing two different institutions.)*
*These are the minimum requirements. Teams with the highest disciplinary and institutional variety will likely have a greater probability of success.
Steps to Apply for WEGE Prize for Undergraduate and Graduate Students Worldwide
TEAM APPLICATION (500-1000 WORDS) SHOULD ADDRESS:
- Why is your team interested in partaking in WEGEPrize 2020?
- How and why did you select your team members?
- How will your trans-disciplinary makeup empower you to succeed?
- What steps has your team taken to comprehend the basics of the circular economy?
- What do you find most thrilling/inspiring about the circular economy and the possibilities it creates?
RESEARCH PLAN (500-1000 WORDS) SHOULD ADDRESS:
- What issues or opportunities are you interested in addressing?
- How might addressing that problem or opportunity support the development of a circular economy?
- What rudimentary research have you carried out to understand the human, technological, and ecological factors involved in your approach?
- How do you intend to involve mentors and/or subject matter specialists in your design process?
- What are your next steps?
WEGE Prize for Undergraduate and Graduate Students Worldwide teams must power their trans-disciplinary makeup to collective design and propose a clarification to a wicked problem of their choosing that can, in turn, help crack the wicked problem of transitioning from a linear economic model to a circular economic model.
Click here for futher details and to apply for WEGE Prize for Undergraduate and Graduate Students Worldwide.