Challenges

Challenges to Tackle

Challenges to
Tackle

Sponsored Challenges

Teams can work on any topic they bring to IDEAS—including education, health, energy, sanitation, governance, infrastructure, business & finance—provided that the focus of the project is to have a positive impact on the world. In addition to these challenges that students bring to the competition, we also may host a Sponsored Challenge that is intended to galvanize work on a particular issue.

Sponsored Challenges are networking and award opportunities focused on solving an issue the sponsor cares about deeply. Challenges articulate a broad, cross-cutting issue and offer financial, informational, and networking resources necessary for teams to develop and implement innovative solutions in this area.

Sponsored Challenges offer incentives for teams to focus their effort in a defined area of issue. Examples include off-grid energy storage or finding ways to put waste materials to use. To take up a Challenge, teams must develop and enter projects that clearly address the Challenge through innovation.

    Awards & Sponsored Challenges

    Awards and Sponsored Challenges

    All teams participating in the IDEAS Global Challenge are evaluated on the same criteria, whether or not their project fits into a Sponsored Challenge. Awards are determined based on overall scores across judging groups. If a winning team meets the criteria of a Sponsored Challenge, they may receive a juried award and be named a winner in that particular challenge category. However, we cannot guarantee that there will be a winner for the Sponsored Challenge.

    We do not host a Sponsored Challenge every year, but here are some past topics:

    • 2016: Mobile Phones & Behavior Change, sponsored by the MIT Practical Impact Alliance
    • 2014: Challenges Facing Rural America, sponsored by the Corning Incorporated Foundation
    • 2013: Yunus Challenge on Education: Solutions for Learning, sponsored by MIT alumnus Mr. Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, benefactor of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab at MIT (J-PAL)
    • 2012: Waste: Put it to Use, Yunus Challenge
    • 2011: Global Villages Challenge, sponsored by the MIT School of Engineering
    • 2011: Improve Life for Temporary and Migrant Workers, sponsored by Monster.com
    • 2011: Improved Agricultural Processes for Better Livelihoods, Yunus Challenge
    • 2010: Promoting Clean Hands for Health and Prosperity, Yunus Challenge
    • 2009: Affordable Small-Scale Energy Storage Solutions, Yunus Challenge
    • 2008: Improving Indoor Air Quality to Break the Cycle of Poverty, Yunus Challenge
    • 2007: Increasing Adherence to Tuberculosis Drugs in Rural Developing Country Contexts, Yunus Challenge