SU Scholarship Contest - Guidelines

BACKGROUND

An exciting component of Singularity University’s impact in the world is through the outreach and partnerships of its Global Impact Competitions. With the prize of attending Singularity University, we are crafting numerous competitions around the globe where competitors must develop and implement projects to positively impact people around their local regions. T-Mobile and Freedomlab will provide two entries in the Netherlands with this prize ($25.000) to attend the Graduate Studies Program. 2 entries will receive an additional prize, consisting of a license for a Software Suite from Autodesk (worth $10,000).

You can apply for this contest by sending your problem solution (in 2 A4s) with the application form on the right. The contest will run from 30th January – 15th March 2012 (23:00h).

If you are amongst the winners, you will experience the following benefits during the Graduate Studies Program:

• A 10 week program where you will engage in sessions and workshops with leading researchers, business leaders and thinkers. See all track courses here.
• Be part of an international team of exceptional students to create new solutions to impact the future.
• You will get to visit some of the most innovative companies in the world (NASA, Google, Autodesk, Facebook, Tesla, Nokia, etc).
• Other benefits: fun events, networking time, local trips, and a wellness program with options for healthy eating, exercise, stress-reducing meditation, sports and games.
  

ENTRY CRITERIA / WHO MAY JOIN?

• (Former) students under 30 years of all studies in the Netherlands.
• With an excellent academic track record and performance.
• With an entrepreneurial track record (additional functions during study, student union or fraternity membership, internships or start-up / company experience).
• Submitting an original and unique solution leveraging exponential technologies to tackle key global or Dutch challenges impacting at least millions of people in 10 years from now. This solution should be focused on stimulating and enhancing the social cohesion/integration locally (E.g. differences between rich and poor, less cultural tension, social change).

PROBLEM STATEMENT

• The idea should have the potential to impact a large number of people – a good number is 1 million in the city or region.
• Should be focused on stimulating and enhancing the social cohesion/integration (E.g. differences between rich and poor, less cultural tension, social change).
• The problem must leverage exponential technologies as a primary method of solving the problem. More info about these technologies can be found on our Wiki

Some projects and themes of past Graduation Studies Programs can be found on the Grand Challenges page for inspiration.

PROCESS

SU has allocated a number of spots for the winners of the Global Impact Competitions to attend the upcoming Graduate Studies Program. We will work with the competitions partners and SU Ambassadors around the world to organize the competitions and select the finalists.

Below is a graphic representation of the competition process that highlights the different stages for how the competitions work.

KEY DATES & TIMING
30th January – 15th March (23:00h) – Run contest (around 6 weeks)
15th March – 29th March – Judge contests and announce winners

JUDGING

The solution must leverage technology as a primary method of achieving the goal – ideally it should leverage more than one (e.g. mobile phones and genomics). For a full list of exponential technologies and examples, please see our Wiki

The criteria for a winning project are as follows:

• Unique use of technology addressing the problem statement
• Feasibility of implementation
• Feasibility to impact a large number of people
• Large potential impact

PRIZE

The first prize will be provided by T-Mobile and Freedomlab and consists of the entry fee of $25.000 for two entries, which is needed to join the Graduate Studies program.

2 entries will be awarded with a licence for a Software Suite from Autodesk, worth $10.000. More information about the software can be found on the Autodesk site.