- Deadline: 18 September 2019
Outline
Research Pitching Competition by Slush & Skolar looks for courageous young postdoc researchers from all fields of research & from all over the world. The 8 finalists will get a free pitching bootcamp and pitch their research at the world's leading startup conference Slush Helsinki on the 22nd of November. The winner receives a €100K Skolar Award to advance her/his research. The competition and award are jointly funded by research foundations. The finalists and winner are selected by an academic jury. The call for applications opens 14th August and closes 18th September. The applications can be submitted at https://apply.skolaraward.com starting 14th August 2019.
What is funded
The Research Pitching Competition is meant for ambitious and even a bit daring research ideas. The competition is not meant for business ideas or for the commercialization of science.
All eight finalists will receive a free 4-day science communications bootcamp in Helsinki from 19th until 22nd November 2019. The finalists will all pitch their idea at Slush on the 22nd of November. The winner will receive a 100 000 euro Skolar Award, that she/he may freely use to advance the proposed research idea. The award money may also be used for personal / team salary expenses.
Each idea is reviewed by an academic jury. First, the pre-jury goes through all the applications, and second, the final jury chooses the eight finalists and the winner. The evaluations are based on the following criteria: scientific courage, clarity, novelty, impact, academic excellence, pitch performance. Read more here: https://skolaraward.fi/apply/
Duration
The application period starts on 14th August at 12:00 PM (noon) (GMT+3:00 Finland, Europe). The application period ends 18th September at 12:00 PM (GMT+3:00). The finalists will be announced on 10th October 2019.
The bootcamp is held in Helsinki and the finalists are expected to be present for the entire length of the bootcamp, starting 19th November in the morning and finishing 22nd November after the final dinner and party (we recommend staying until the morning of the 23rd). We cover the accommodation in Helsinki but the applicants are expected to cover their own flights to and from Helsinki.
Eligibility
The competition is open to all fields of research from all over the world. The competition is targeted to postdoctoral researchers in the early stages of their academic careers, meaning researchers who have received their doctoral degree by the end of the application period, 18th of September 2019.
Also, there should not be more than five years from the date you received your Ph.D., meaning 18th of September 2014 (excluding parental leaves calculated on the basis of the Finnish model, 4 months per child, regardless of the nationality of the applicant).
An individual researcher or research team can apply for the competition. If a team is applying its members must be listed in the application. Only one of the project’s representatives will take part in the training and pitch the idea.
The ideas submitted to the competition can be basic and applied research. Research Pitching Competition is not meant for commercialization or testing existing products or services. The ideas should be new, i.e. the researcher has not previously received funding for this idea.
Read more at skolar.fi or email us at me@skolar.fi
About Skolar
Skolar is a community of research communicators and research foundations with the aim to help postdoc researchers be seen and heard in the society. We have created the competition in collaboration with Slush, the world's leading startup conference to bring research in front of a non-academic audience. The competition and its 100 000 euro prize are funded by Finnish research foundations: Helsingin Sanomat Foundation, The Paulo Foundation, Runar Bäckström Foundation, Saastamoinen Foundation, Society for Scientific Infomation, Tiina and Antti Herlin Foundation and Walter Ahlström Foundation. Read more here: https://skolaraward.fi/partners/