Graduate Institute’s Geneva Challenge 2024 for Graduate Students Worldwide

The Graduate Institute is launching the ninth edition of the Advancing Development Goals Contest, an international competition for graduate students.

Application Deadlines:

• Registration ends: 22nd April 2024.
• Submissions are due by: 14^th July 2024. 

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Graduate students from all over the world

To be taken at (country): Geneva, Switzerland

About the Contest: The 2024 Advancing Development Goals International Contest for Graduate Students aims to present innovative and pragmatic solutions to address the challenges of social inclusion.

The Challenge

“The Challenges of Youth Empowerment”

The idea is to gather contributions that are both theoretically grounded and offer pragmatic solutions to a relevant international development problem stemming from an interdisciplinary collaboration between three to five enrolled master students from anywhere in the world.

Five prizes will be distributed; one in each of the following categories:

• Universities located in Africa
• Universities located in Asia
• Universities located in Europe
• Universities located in North America and Oceania
• Universities located in South America

Type: Contest (Essay)

Eligibility: Eligibility is based on evaluation by an interdisciplinary academic steering committee.

Selection Criteria:

• An interdisciplinary academic steering committee will assess all submissions by students and select semi-finalists which will be published on the competitions website and then reviewed by an independent jury of experts with academic, governmental and private sector backgrounds.
• Five finalist teams, one team per continent, will be invited (traveling and accommodation expenses covered) to an oral presentation in Geneva, where they will defend their ideas and answer questions from the jury and from the public. The finalists will also be present at an awards ceremony where the results of the contest will be announced preceded by a high-level key-note speech on the challenges of climate change.

Number of Awardees: Five teams (One team from each continent) of 3 to 5 enrolled Master students will be selected at the final stage.

Value of Contest: The ADG contest distributes 20,500 CHF in monetary prizes. The winning project is awarded CHF 10,000; the two teams in second place will receive CHF 5,000 and the two teams in third place, CHF 2,500.

How to Apply: 

• Apply below
• Read the Call for Contributions to get a better understanding of this year’s topic.
• Send in your application by filling in the following form in the link below.

Visit Program Webpage for details

Important Notes: Endeavour to apply now, you may submit proposals later.