How to apply

The theme of this year’s Open Seventeen Summer Challenge is Innovating for a Sustainable Post-Pandemic World. We are coaching youth around the world to innovate in order to tackle the pandemic and its aftermath, with a focus on achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Summer Challenge is open to high-school, undergraduate and Master students, from all fields of study. Your mission is to pitch – in a 60sec video OR a written post (150 words or less) – an idea on how you – and your team if you have one – can address one of the following challenges.
  1. Frugal Medical Equipment for Covid (Challenge from CRI, University of Paris)
  2. Crowdsourcing for Pandemic Research (Challenge from Citizen Cyberlab, University of Geneva)
  3. Post-Pandemic Sustainability (Challenge from x-Lab, Tsinghua University)
  4. Good Work Through Crowdsourcing (Challenge from GovLab, New York University)
  5. Caring for the Elderly (Challenge from Citizen Science Center Zurich, University of Zurich/ETH Zurich)
  6. Reinventing Remote Collaboration (Challenge from OpenFIESTA, Tsinghua University)

For more information about each of these, consult  The Challenges.

You can apply individually or as a team of up to four students. To pitch your idea, follow these simple steps:

  1. If you have not done so already, download the Goodwall App and fill out your Goodwall profile, remembering to include the name of your High School or your University, your field of study, and your expected graduation date.
  2. You have two options to pitch for your idea. Please choose ONE of the following:
    • In your Goodwall profile click on the “+” icon. Then click on the Idea icon (lightbulb). Record a 60sec video pitch.
      Make sure to add the keywords ‘O17 Summer 2020’ and the number of the challenge your idea addresses (for example ‘O17 Summer 2020 Challenge 3’)
      If you’re part of a team, and your teammates have Goodwall profiles, tag them. Upload the video.
      OR
    • Describe your idea in less than 150 words through a post on Goodwall by clicking on the “+” icon then clicking the post icon.
      Upload it. Make sure the add the necessary keywords and tag your teammates if you have any      .

The application deadline is 10 June. We’ll get back to you by 17 June to let you know if you’re selected.
Online coaching runs over 4 weeks from 6-31 July, 2hrs per day. Detailed schedule and platform shared with successful applicants.

Selection Criteria
The selection criteria include:

  • relevance of the proposed project to the selected challenge (are you solving a real problem?)
  • innovativeness of the approach (has anyone done anything similar already?)
  • feasibility of the project (can your team really do this?)

Criteria of balance for gender, geographical region and subject of study also applied.

Data Privacy

Please review and make sure you agree with Goodwall’s data privacy policy, before uploading personal information. Please note that Goodwall will share data about applicants with University of Geneva, for the purposes of selecting participants for the Open Seventeen Challenge. A report about the challenge based on anonymized data will be made publicly available.

Make sure you check the Frequently Asked Questions for more details

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