Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Solve Global Challenges for Entrepreneurs

Solve Global Challenges

Course(s) Offered: Ideas, Entrepreneurship
Course Level: All levels
Provider: MIT
Country to Work in: Any

Scholarship Description
Each year Solve seeks solutions from tech innovators around the world for its Global Challenges, and anyone can submit a solution. The “Solve” program at MIT announces four global challenges in 2019, inviting anyone in the world to propose solutions to them.

Solve at MIT is a flagship annual event held on the MIT campus in Cambridge, MA, bringing together leaders from the tech industry, business, philanthropy, government, and civil society. Solvers and their solutions will be featured on stage, in online and written materials, and through dedicated challenge workshops. Solve staff will continue supporting Solvers to match-make partnerships with Solve's community members who will help make Solvers’ solutions a reality. At MIT, every solution must include technology — whether new or existing — as a key component.

Anyone the world-over can participate in a Solve challenge and submit a solution. Whether you’ve just started building your solution and your team, you’re running a pilot, or you’re ready to scale, Solve is looking for innovators and entrepreneurs with the best solutions to these global challenges.

Eligibility
Anyone, anywhere around the world aged 13 and older can submit a solution to Solve's Challenges. You can be an individual, a team, or an organization. You can be an applicant from previous years or already part of our community. If you have a relevant solution, we hope you'll apply.

Solve seeks innovative, human-centered, tech-based solutions to its Global Challenges. Solve will consider solutions at all stages of development from research, to pilot, to growth. If you’re researching, Solve can help you develop a partnership to pilot. If you’re already piloting, Solve can help you grow. And if you’re already growing, Solve can help you scale. The most important thing is that your solution will solve the challenge posed.

Selection Process and Criteria:
In the first round, Solve staff will perform an initial screening of all applications for completeness, for coherency, and for whether the solution appropriately addresses the challenge. Then Solve judges will score the screened applications to determine finalists. Here are the criteria the judges will use to score the applications on the website:

• Alignment: Does the solution address the challenge that has been set forth?
• Scalability: Can the solution be grown and scaled to affect the lives of more people?
• Potential for Impact: Does the planned implementation of the solution have the potential to impact lives, and does the theory behind how it will work make logical sense? Does the team have a robust plan for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the solution?
• Novelty: Is this a new technology, new application of an existing technology, or new process for solving the challenge?
• Feasibility: Is it feasible to implement the solution, and does the team have a plan for the solution to sustain itself financially?

In the second round, each finalist will pitch before the challenge judges and a live audience. The judges will determine which solutions are the most promising. These new “Solvers” will receive support and partnership from the Solve community.

Eligible groups
Citizens of ALL countries

Participating Institutions
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge campus, Massachusetts; USA

Global Challenges /Fields
The 2019 challenges include the following below. Each proposal must include a technology element.

1. Community-driven Innovation: How can citizens and communities create and improve social inclusion and shared prosperity?
2. Early Childhood Development: How can all children under five develop the critical learning and cognitive skills they need to reach their full potential?
3. Circular Economy: How can people create and consume goods that are renewable, repairable, reusable, and recyclable?
4. Healthy Cities: How can urban residents design and live in environments that promote physical and mental health?

Number of awards
Not specified

Sponsorship duration
August, 2019 – Finalists announced
September, 2019 – Finalists pitch in New York during the U.N. General Assembly week

Scholarship benefits
Finalists are invited to pitch their solutions at Solve Challenge Finals during UN General Assembly Week in New York City in September. Selected Solver teams will join a supportive community of peers, funders, and experts to help advance their work; receive mentorship and strategic advice from Solve and MIT networks; attend Solve at MIT, our annual flagship event in May; and receive access to the prize funding for that year's Challenge.

For 2019, more than $725,000 in prize funding is available.

Method of Application
Select a challenge and submit a proposal to the challenge. Each proposal must include a technology element. The finalists in each challenge will be invited to present their ideas at an event in New York (simultaneous with the UN General Assembly, September 2019), after which the selected winners will be offered partnership opportunities.

It is important to go through the application information in Program Webpage before applying.

DEADLINES:
Last day to apply is 1st July 2019

PLEASE NOTE:
Solve at MIT is our flagship annual event held on the MIT campus in Cambridge, MA, bringing together more than 500 cross-sector leaders as well as MIT faculty and students. The event will feature Solver teams on stage, in online and written materials, and through dedicated Challenge workshops.

Application Deadline: 1 July 2019
Open to International Applicants: Yes

More Scholarship Information and Application

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