In response to the coronavirus disease outbreak, MIT Solve Global Challenge has launched an additional 2020 Challenge: Health Security and Pandemics to spur more entrepreneurs to investigate and improve the world of health security and pandemics.
The challenge is designed to take a much broader approach to innovation around health security and now joins four other challenges around inclusive entrepreneurship, learning for girls and women, sustainable food systems and maternal and newborn health.
Presented by the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy’s (IDE) Inclusive Innovation Challenge (IIC) MIT will help fund companies, nonprofits, academic research projects and even individual ideas through its marketplace of funding partners. The program’s current application deadline is June 18th.
The challenge comes amid the time when the world is fighting the COVID-19 Pandemic whose global death toll is over 40,000 and over 800,000 infections have been reported. This, in turn, is expected to cause massive economic disruption, intensifying the effects of technological transformations.
All solutions selected for Solve’s five current Global Challenges will receive a $10,000 grant funded by Solve. Solver teams will be selected by a panel of cross-sector judges at Solve Challenge Finals during UN General Assembly week in New York City on September 20, 2020.
In addition, to Solve funding, the following prizes are available to Solver teams selected for the Health Security & Pandemics Challenge.
To be considered for a prize, complete the prize-specific question within the application. You do not need to meet these requirements to apply to the Health Security & Pandemics Challenge:
The Elevate Prize for Health Security will be awarded to one Solver team from the Health Security & Pandemics Challenge. This prize is supported by The Elevate Prize Foundation, which recognizes that there are heroes all over the world who are putting their health and safety at risk to treat those who are infected and to save lives.
Now more than ever, it is critical to recognize and uplift those who are elevating humanity. The Solver team that is selected will be named an Elevate Prize Global Hero and will participate in both the MIT Solver program and the Elevate Prize Global Heroes program, receiving a minimum of $300,000 over two years and ongoing support from The Elevate Prize Foundation and MIT Solve.
Eligibility requirements for this prize are here (“Who can apply to The Elevate Prize?”).
The AI for Humanity Prize is open to solutions that are already using strong data science, artificial intelligence, or machine learning to benefit humanity, and to solutions that are not yet using these technologies but plan to do so to amplify their impact in the future.
This prize is made possible by The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and our global community through neuroscience research and information technology. Up to $200,000 will be granted across several Solver teams from any of Solve’s current Global Challenges.
Solutions that use innovative technology to improve the quality of life for women and girls are eligible for the Innovation for Women Prize.
This prize is funded by the Vodafone Americas Foundation, which supports technology-focused projects that advance the needs of women and girls, and that promote a world where women’s voices can be celebrated. Up to $75,000 will be granted across up to three Solver teams from any of Solve’s current Global Challenges.
The Andan Prize for Innovation in Refugee Inclusion is open to solutions that advance the economic, financial, and political inclusion of refugees. The prize is funded by Andan Foundation, a Swiss non-profit foundation dedicated to supporting solutions that promote refugee resilience, self-reliance and integration. Up to $100,000 will be granted to up to four eligible Solver teams from across any of Solve’s current Global Challenges.
MIT Solve also brings together a diverse coalition of funders and networks them with a heterogeneous collection of projects and organizations focused around its pillars of health, education, economic prosperity and sustainability. Get more details about MIT Solve Challenge here
Thinking about what joining a workspace designed for business, could do for you and your team? Talk to our team – we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch.