Opportunity

Powered by: Lemelson-MIT Program

The Lemelson-MIT Student Prize is a nationwide invention competition that honors undergraduate teams and individual graduate students who have developed technology-based inventions with tested prototypes.

Graduate students win $15,000 in recognition of their portfolio of inventions, and undergraduate teams win $10,000 for their invention. In addition, winners will be included in a national media campaign, and receive exposure to investment and business communities, and a trip to MIT for an award celebration (EurekaFest) in June 2020.


DETAILS

Eligibility Requirements:

  • All applicants must be full-time, matriculated, degree-seeking students in the spring semester of 2020 at any U.S. college or university to be eligible. Postdocs, audit students, and alumni are not eligible.

Students apply to the competition as either:

  • An undergraduate team composed of 2–5 students on an undergraduate student-founded and student-led team. Must have a tested prototype of one invention that fits into one of the four prize categories. Graduate students can be part of the undergraduate team provided the majority of team members are undergraduates. Individual undergraduate students cannot apply without a team.
  • An individual graduate student with at least two inventions with tested prototypes. Only the primary invention must fit into one of the four prize categories. There is no graduate student team prize.

Students must have a tested prototype of a technology-based invention that fits into one of the four prize categories:

  • “Cure it!”– inventions that involve healthcare.
  • “Eat it!”– inventions that involve food/water or agriculture.
  • “Move it!”– inventions that involve transportation or mobility.
  • “Use it!”– inventions that involve consumer devices – defined as tangible consumer products where the end users are retail customers who would purchase the product for use in their daily life.

If you are unsure about which category to apply to, contact Janell Ciemiecki, Awards Program Administrator, at janellc@mit.edu. For undergraduate teams, the person submitting the application will be considered the team lead and the main point of contact for anything application-related.

The deadline to apply is September 27, 2019.

For more information on application criteria, eligibility, dates, guidelines and FAQs, visit the Lemelson-MIT website