FINAL PROPOSAL GUIDELINES Final Proposals are due Friday, March 18, 2016 by 6:00PM The Proposal describes your project to our panel of judges and makes the case for why your team should receive an award to make your idea a reality. It is the key document upon which your idea will be evaluated against judging criteria. Contents 1. Participation and Judging Criteria 2. Competition Process 3. Proposal Outline 4. Judging Process 5. Innovation Showcase + Awards 6. Expectations of Winners 1. Participation and Judging Criteria All IDEAS Global Challenge teams must meet our basic requirements to participate: Team structure: Each team must be led by one or more full-time MIT students for the duration of the competition (through June 2016). A full-time MIT student on the team must also have significantly contributed to the innovation of the project. The team should have a strong core of MIT students, but you re welcome to invite others to join the team. Consider bringing in people beyond MIT students that will contribute the right skills to round out your team. Service-focused & ethical: The IDEAS Global Challenge is a program of the MIT Public Service Center. As such, all projects must have a service focus and be geared towards making a positive difference in the world. Location: While projects can take place in the US or abroad, we are guided by MIT s Travel Risk Policy for determining whether students can travel to certain locations. Please be sure to check whether your project location is on this list: http://insurance.mit.edu/services/internationaltravel/mit-travel-risk-policy. We do not permit students to travel to High Risk locations, and we work with students on a case-by-case basis for other countries with travel warnings. Submission process: Each team must submit at least one initial Scope Statement before February 18 at 6:00PM. To enter the final round, teams must be invited by the IDEAS Global Challenge staff. Qualified teams who are eligible to submit Proposals should understand the judging criteria: Innovation: Is the work described an original, innovative project or a creative and significant improvement on previous attempts at solving the same problem? Has the team clearly described what it feels is innovative about the project and what prior art or current practices exist in the same field? Will the innovation (process, product, technology, etc.) create value for the community or users for whom it is intended? In large part, were MIT students responsible for the project s main innovation(s)? Community Connection and Impact: Does the team present compelling information that demonstrates that they understand the community and the need? Does the project meet a true need? Does it solve the problem effectively? How much of a difference will it make in the community/to the individuals?
Feasibility: How convincing is the team's preliminary planning and the work they've done to date? Is this a realistic solution to a problem? Does the team have the support of appropriate community partners to help implement the project? How detailed and realistic are the implementation plan and project timeline? How well has the team explained its plan to sustain the project's impact? Does this particular team seem able to do this work? Are all needed functions served? Does the budget appear well thought out, reasonable, and related to activities described? In short, the judges decide if IDEAS Global Challenge resources can help a team make substantial progress towards serving a community with the proposed project within the next 15 months. 2. Competition Process 3. Proposal Outline The ideas and plans that you submit must be your own, and you must credit any partners you are working with. You should include only non-confidential information in your Proposal. While every idea is different, your proposal must follow our standard format to ensure that you re answering all of the judges questions. Please organize your proposal with the following bolded subheadings. The bulleted points and questions below are intended to help you think about what to include in each section. In FluidReview, you will be guided through the form following these sections. Tip: Some of the judges reading your proposal may not have the same technical background as you. Avoid using unnecessary jargon. Have a friend or someone from a different field review your proposal to point out sections that are difficult to understand. 2 of 5
Executive Summary Provide an overview/abstract that concisely summarizes your project The Problem Background/Context/Framing: Lay out the need/opportunity for your idea. What is the problem you re addressing? What is the extent of the problem? What community will you assist? Why is it important that the need be filled? Explain Prior Attempts to Solve Problem: What prior art is currently in use? What are the benefits and drawbacks of prior attempts to solve the problem you re addressing? Why were prior solutions inadequate or not as helpful as possible? Include references. The Solution/Innovation Impact Your Innovation - The technology, process, idea, business model, etc. explained in detail: Is your project something new altogether, a new combination of different parts and systems? Explain exactly why you believe it is innovative. Why this innovation is a significant improvement upon previous work: How does it solve the problem? How is your idea better than existing solutions for community needs? If this question were to be framed from a business standpoint, we d ask: who is your competition or what are the other competitive products or systems that are out there? What are the expected benefits of the project? For whom: Who will be affected by your work? How will it affect the people for whom it is intended? Other community members or stakeholders? What additional effects do you anticipate from your work? Magnitude: Your project could affect the lives of just a few people in a profoundly meaningful way, or it could change quality of life for thousands in a small way. How many people will your project affect and to what extent? Immediate Impact and Long-Term Vision: What would the impact be at different stages of the project? How do you intend to achieve these? Project Description/Feasibility The project is the plan for implementing your innovation so that it has a real positive impact for a group or community. Remember: IDEAS is not a business plan competition, but rather a space for innovative, service-oriented projects. The best projects often involve co-design with users and beneficiaries. In cases where your innovation has not yet been approved for use or human testing, describe what your project will entail in terms of working with a group or community on the development, design, and user feedback. What the project entails: Provide an overview of your project. What key factors contributed to the design of your project? Where you re working: Will the project take place in multiple locations? How much time will you be spending with the community/ies where you re launching the project? Community Partnerships: This is an important part of the proposal, as it helps demonstrates that your project will have traction in the community where you intend to work. You should have a community partner (organization, individual, company, etc.) who will assist you with design, implementation, or support. Who is that? What is their relationship with the community? What is their role in your project? Additional Stakeholders: Whom else are you working with in the community you intend to serve? What relationships will be necessary to build in the next year as you implement your project? 3 of 5
Work to date: What research have you done to support your project? What have been your major milestones? Do you have a prototype, business plan or other plans? How long have you been working on this as a team? Have you been to the project location? What is your familiarity with the community? Broad implementation plan: What is your approach and plan for proceeding? What will be your key milestones? How will you measure your progress? Given that the implementation awards are to support the next 15 months of implementation, consider how that fits into the scope of your work. Timeline: Sketch out the main steps in a timeline or Gantt chart. What will you do in the next 30 days, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months and beyond. Who is responsible for each role? Challenges to Implementation: Acknowledge some of the potential challenges for implementing your project. How might you plan in advance for potential setbacks? What steps can be taken to lessen risks? Sustainability Considerations: Please outline how you are thinking about the sustainability of your project. Some projects are intended to address short-term community needs; others address long-term issues. However, we d like all teams to seriously consider how their projects affect the communities they work with. What steps will you take to ensure that the project is meaningfully impactful and not negatively disruptive? Will community members be trained to carry the project forward in your absence? If so, address any extra burdens being placed on the community. Your Team & Mentors Please keep the bios for your team members brief (3-5 sentences). Who is on your team? How do your skillsets and experience align with the skills needed to implement the idea? Do the team members bring transferrable experience from previous work to this project? Mentors/Advisors: Describe the set of partners, mentors, and advisors who will assist you with your project development. What roles will they serve in developing the project? What additional human resources or expertise might you need over the next 15 months? The Budget Use the budget section to present a detailed and realistic vision of what the project will cost. Your budget can exceed the top award amount for the IDEAS Global Challenge; if it does, indicate where other sources of funding may come from. If you were to win an IDEAS award, how would you allocate the funding? Describe how it fits into your overall implementation plan. This should be a budget for a project, not just general support for a company or non-profit. 4. Judging Process A group of 3-5 judges (industry experts, non-profit leaders, business professionals, MIT faculty and administrators, government representatives, etc.) will be judging each team. Judges complete two evaluations one based on your written proposal, and one based on their in-person interactions with the team at the Innovation Showcase. We will compile and average the scores from each judging team. The written and in-person evaluations will each be weighted as 50% of the overall score for each team. Based on these assessments, we will compare teams across all of the judging groups to determine the highest ranked teams. This year, we have up to $80,000 that we can give away in grants of $5,000, $7,500, $10,000, and one top prize of $15,000 in honor of our 15 th Anniversary. Award amounts correspond to the level of merit, not to the budget request. Using the rankings, the PSC staff will allocate funding accordingly. In the case of a tie, we will refer to the judges qualitative comments as a deciding factor. In recent years, approximately 7-10 teams have been selected to receive some level of juried awards. 4 of 5
5. Innovation Showcase & Awards IDEAS Global Challenge In addition to your written proposal, your project will be evaluated through in-person interactions with judges at the Innovation Showcase on Saturday, April 2 in the MIT Media Lab. This is a required event for all teams that enter the final round. The schedule for the day is as follows: 10:00 Teams arrive to set up poster and any displays 10:30 Judges meet with teams ~15 minutes each 11:30 Break 12:00 Innovation Showcase (open to the public) begins 2:00 Awards Ceremony 3:00 Wrap-Up All teams must produce a poster with an image or collage of images that represent your work. Posters must be printed at 20" x 30" and include the name of your team. Keep your receipt and do not mount the poster on a board. We will reimburse for unmounted, 20 x 30 posters. We recommend wearing business casual or professional attire. 6. Requirements for IDEAS GC Winners Mark your calendars! All winners MUST attend the IDEAS Winners Retreat spanning: The evening of Thursday, April 28 th The late afternoon/evening of Friday, April 29 th The morning and afternoon of Saturday, April 30 th The retreat will assist teams in making the transition from preparing their project proposals and winning in the IDEAS Global Challenge to implementing your project in the year ahead. In addition, winners will give written and in-person updates on their project three months, six months, and 15 months following the receipt of the award. - - - - - Questions and comments are welcome in person at W20-549 or at globalchallenge@mit.edu 5 of 5