Posted on Updated on

Democracy the focus of this year’s student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Challenge

Annual challenge kicks off this week with Fall Honors Colloquium on ‘Democracy in Peril’

Democracy is the focus of this year’s student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Challenge at URI. Students are encouraged to apply now.

KINGSTON, R.I. – Sept. 16, 2024 – This year’s University of Rhode Island Innovation and Entrepreneurship Challenge has elected democracy as its theme, inviting students from any major to generate creative ideas that address social, political, environmental, and economic problems through democratic innovation and entrepreneurship.

All URI students are invited to join the fall 2024 challenge which is designed to complement the Honors Program’s fall Colloquium, ‘Democracy in Peril.’ The challenge is open to all undergraduate and graduate students from any program or major. Full challenge details can be found here. Information will also be provided at the first Honors Colloquium talk on Tuesday Sept. 17 (Edwards Hall, 7 p.m.).

The challenge is sponsored by URI’s RISE-UP (Resilient Innovative Sustainable Economies via University Partnerships) initiative to foster innovation and cross-disciplinary entrepreneurship at the University; to empower early entrepreneurs through training and mentorship; and help build a more diversified, sustainable, and resilient economy in Rhode Island.

Requirements and timing

Students interested in participating in the challenge must attend two Honors colloquium talks by Nov. 12 and indicate their interest early this semester by completing a quick google form. After this, students will be enrolled in a Brightspace project site, to get more information on the challenge and resources to help develop their ideas.

Participating teams will submit their ideas at the end of the Fall 2024 semester for first-round judging. First-round finalists will be awarded up to $2,000 in implementation funds and will be invited to participate in RISE-UP workshops during the Spring 2025 semester to further refine and prototype their ideas and develop their pitches. During URI’s Spring 2025 Innovation Week, finalists will present their pitch to a panel of judges and compete for a grand prize of $5,000 in implementation funds.

Questions about the challenge should be directed to RISE-UP intern Sharday Johnson at sharday.johnson@uri.edu. Johnson was a finalist in last year’s sustainability-themed innovation challenge and is now assisting with this year’s challenge outreach and communication.

Faculty who are interested in incorporating the Democracy Challenge into their class activities this semester can reach out to Johnson to schedule a short in-class visit with a member of the RISE-UP team.