Details
The Lemelson-MIT Student Prize honors promising collegiate inventors around the country. The Student Prize is open to teams of undergraduate students and individual graduate students who have technology-based inventions in categories that represent significant sectors of the economy: healthcare, transportation and mobility, food/water and agriculture, and consumer devices.
The 2020 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize features a two-part online application process, the Initial Application and the Category Application, using the SurveyMonkey Apply applicant portal. All applicants need to create a SurveyMonkey Apply account by clicking the “Apply Now” button on the Student Prize website. For undergraduate teams, the person submitting the application will be considered the team lead and the main point of contact for anything application-related. Category-specific screening committees review applications to select finalists and a prestigious national jury selects winners. Details appear below:
Initial Application Deadline: Friday, September 27, 2019 at 11:59pm ET
The Initial Application is a rolling application with a final deadline of September 27, 2019. If applicants meet all eligibility and Initial Application criteria, they will be invited to submit the Category Application within two weeks of submitting the Initial Application. Applicants are encouraged to submit materials BEFORE the September deadline, as doing so will facilitate an early review of materials AND grant earlier access to the Category Application if eligibility requirements and criteria are met, thereby giving more time to complete the Category Application.
Category Application Deadline: Friday, October 18, 2019 at 11:59pm ET
Eligible applicants will be invited via email to submit the Category Application. All Category Application materials, including the faculty recommendation letter, must be received no later than October 18, 2019.
Finalist Round and Announcement of Winners
Applicants selected as Finalists will be notified that they are advancing to the Finalist round by December 19, 2019, and will be required to submit additional materials due on January 15, 2020. See the below Application Guidelines for Finalists dropdown for more details. Winners will be notified in late-February 2020 and a public announcement will occur in late-April 2020. Awards will be made at EurekaFest, held in mid-to late-June 2020 (winners are required to attend; for undergraduate teams, at least one team member must attend). Attendance at EurekaFest is at the Lemelson-MIT Program’s expense.