Call for Applications: President’s Innovation Challenge, Harvard Innovation Labs
This opportunity is only open to Harvard students.
We are pleased to announce the seventh annual President’s Innovation Challenge for entrepreneurship. Hosted by the Harvard Innovation Labs, the Challenge harnesses the creativity, ingenuity, and diversity of our community and encourages students and postdoctoral fellows from across all of Harvard’s Schools to scrutinize the most pressing challenges of our time. We are seeking three broad categories of ideas that will make the world better: Social Impact or Cultural Enterprise, Health or Life Sciences, and Open (a track for ideas that transcend other categories).
Throughout the fall, the i-lab will offer workshops, one-on-one advising sessions, and networking events to support students interested in applying to the Challenge. In the spring, a panel of expert judges will select fifteen finalists, who will be eligible to win more than $300,000 in total prize money, including $75,000 for the winning teams in each category and $25,000 for the runners-up. Winners of the Challenge will be awarded Bertarelli Foundation Prizes, made possible by a gift from the Bertarelli Foundation, Ernesto Bertarelli (MBA 1993).
The application deadline is January 2, 2018. Students interested in the Challenge can look at thequestions on the website and begin preparing. We hope you will consider attending the President’s Innovation Challenge Open House at the i-lab on Monday, November 6, at 6 p.m., to hear more about the Challenge and to network with others who share your passion for making a difference.
Another great opportunity to get involved is the Pitch, Mix, and Match event on Tuesday, November 14, at 6 p.m., when students interested in gaining team members can pitch their ideas to students interested in joining a team. Both of these events will also help you prepare for the application deadline.
We are proud that the Challenge has embodied the best of our University and the One Harvard initiative throughout the past six cycles, and we look forward to seeing the Harvard community rise to the Challenge once again.
Read more about i-lab events here and apply here!