The document outlines the terms and conditions of the MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 Awards. The awards recognize the most promising young innovators under 35 years old who are developing new technologies or applying existing technologies creatively. Candidates can be nominated or can apply themselves by submitting information about their work and qualifications. A panel of expert judges from universities and companies will evaluate candidates based on the impact, ingenuity, audacity, and communication abilities shown in their work. Up to 10 winners will be selected and recognized for their innovative leadership, with their projects and names published worldwide. Winners are also expected to participate in events promoting innovation.
The document outlines the terms and conditions of the MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 Awards. The awards recognize the most promising young innovators under 35 years old who are developing new technologies or applying existing technologies creatively. Candidates can be nominated or can apply themselves by submitting information about their work and qualifications. A panel of expert judges from universities and companies will evaluate candidates based on the impact, ingenuity, audacity, and communication abilities shown in their work. Up to 10 winners will be selected and recognized for their innovative leadership, with their projects and names published worldwide. Winners are also expected to participate in events promoting innovation.
The document outlines the terms and conditions of the MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 Awards. The awards recognize the most promising young innovators under 35 years old who are developing new technologies or applying existing technologies creatively. Candidates can be nominated or can apply themselves by submitting information about their work and qualifications. A panel of expert judges from universities and companies will evaluate candidates based on the impact, ingenuity, audacity, and communication abilities shown in their work. Up to 10 winners will be selected and recognized for their innovative leadership, with their projects and names published worldwide. Winners are also expected to participate in events promoting innovation.
The document outlines the terms and conditions of the MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 Awards. The awards recognize the most promising young innovators under 35 years old who are developing new technologies or applying existing technologies creatively. Candidates can be nominated or can apply themselves by submitting information about their work and qualifications. A panel of expert judges from universities and companies will evaluate candidates based on the impact, ingenuity, audacity, and communication abilities shown in their work. Up to 10 winners will be selected and recognized for their innovative leadership, with their projects and names published worldwide. Winners are also expected to participate in events promoting innovation.
Introduction The MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 Awards is an initiative created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) publication, which for over a decade has published a yearly list of the most brilliant young innovators under 35 years of age. The objective of this initiative is to award innovation the development of new technologies or the creative application of already existing ones in order to resolve current problems, ingenuity, and advances toward addressing the worlds most important challenges. MIT Technology Review hopes to find people who are capable of materializing the fascinating, inspiring and original ideas that will revolutionize the world of technology and business in the near future. Past winners of this competition include, for example, Sergey Brin (2002), one of the founders of Google, and Mark Zuckerberg (2007), the founder of Facebook. MIT Technology Review has brought this search for talented youth to Spain, Belgium, France, Turkey, Poland, Italy, Germany as well as in Latin America: Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, Uruguay, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Central America. In these regions each year, we find men and women under 35 who are the most promising in various technological areas.
Areas of Work We look for young people under 35 years of age whose accomplishments and personal qualities suggest a great potential to become highly influential through their contributions in the following areas:
Biotechnology and medicine
Computing and hardware
Energy
Internet and Web
Nanotechnology and materials
Software
Telecommunications
Transportation
Profiles of
Our objective is to recognize the development of new
technologies or the creative application of existing ones in order to create new services and solutions for current problems. Candidates can stand out by having developed products that are already on the market, or by carrying out advanced research and promising planning, while their idea has yet to be materialized. We hope to reward creative and original work that benefits not only certain industries, but also society in general. This call is open to people of all education and professional backgrounds. Candidates can come from universities, be founders of small businesses, employees in large companies or government institutions, or members of non-profit organizations. The candidates must be under 35 years of age before December 31st of 2016. There is one exception: candidates may be women who are younger than 36 years old before that date, if they have had one or more children. The dates of winner selection and all information about the awards may be accessed at our web page and social networks. The candidates must be nationals of the country they apply for and be in possession of a passport, birth certificate or National Identification Document, or a residency card for foreign nationals (please note that the latter must also provide proof that they have resided in the country for at least 5 years prior to application).
Nomination of
Candidates may apply through the form available
at the official website of the Awards or can be nominated by experts in their areas of expertise, or people in their academic or professional field. Candidates should fill out the sections of the form which refer to their personal information, upload two documents -project information and CVwhere they describe briefly why they are suited to receive this recognition. The candidates must ensure that all information provided is truthful. Finally they must also provide two references (name two people in their area who know their background).
During the nomination period, the candidate can
access the platform at any time and complete or modify his/her information. The organizing team can get in touch with the nominees in order to verify or request additional information about his/her project and/or resume. These should be maximum 2 pages each, must be written in English and should be uploaded before the established deadline. Optionally, the candidate can also provide this documentation in their local language as well. In the meantime, the organizing team will ask the two references to send a recommendation letter in English, in which they explain why the candidate is ideal for this award. These letters will be directly uploaded by the organization to the candidates profile.
Characteristics of the Information Our panel of judges will only consider the information included in the nominees profile in the platform, and the letters sent by his/her references. The panel may request information from nominees if it is considered necessary. Additionally, all candidates should renounce ownership of all materials and commercial information that comprises the documentation that they present. These can be used beyond the announcement of the winners in order to expand knowledge of the competition and the winners. The presentation of a candidate necessarily implies the accordance with these guidelines.
The areas of work previously mentioned will be used
to organize the evaluation process and to distribute information among the judges regarding the candidates who present projects that are most linked with their specialties. There is not a predetermined number or percentage of winners for each area. The right to select fewer than ten winners in total is reserved if it is determined that candidates do not fulfill the characteristics necessary to be selected. Similarly, up to two winners can be rewarded with an additional honorary mention if they exhibit extraordinary focus regarding social, entrepreneurial or innovative values.
Evaluation Process MIT Technology Review relies on the assessments of a diverse committee of judges made up of experts such as technologists, inventors, directors, and entrepreneurs from the best universities and companies. The list of judges changes each year and is published along with the list of winners in the official awards page. The members of the panel of judges will evaluate candidates based on their written description of their work, a current resume, and the letters of recommendation from their references. Additionally, following the evaluation of the general committee, MIT Technology Review can request the independent
opinion of other professionals who specialize in
certain areas in order to advance the selection process. The members of the jury cannot nominate a candidate whose evaluation they will complete.
Evaluation criteria Although there is no mandatory methodology in place to evaluate the candidates, the judges have a series of considerations to guide their evaluations:
Impact: We look for projects that can
significantly change the life and work of people or the functioning of organizations; projects with a global impact and not just an impact within one area of research.
Ingenuity: We take into account the way in
which candidates confront problems and develop real solutions. We value the creativity and intrinsic imagination of entrepreneurs who are capable of observing and solving problems from a fresh perspective.
Audacity: We look for audacious people with a
history of feats, both lost and won, with a continuous spirit of perseverance.
Current: We want to recognize innovators for the
work they are doing today, not for projects they have led in the past.
Communication abilities: We are aware that in
order for ideas to be valued, they must be communicated and explained with success in order to reach funders, consumers and the general public. Because of this, we value the capacity of a candidate to convince us that a risky idea will be brilliant.
Awards for the winners The MIT Innovators Under 35 Awards do not include a monetary provision for winners. They serve as recognition of the trajectory and potential of the top ten most promising young people in the area of emerging technologies. The great value of the awards lies in the visibility and international prestige which follows when winners are recognized by MIT Technology Review as innovative leaders in the areas of work. The names and projects of the winners will be published throughout the world as a series of articles in the MIT Innovators under 35 local edition website in the months following the presentation of candidates. Similarly, the young people who are awarded can present their projects before an audience specially comprised of investors, entrepreneurs, academics, technologists, and business leaders during an awards presentation ceremony that will take place in 2016.
Responsibilities of the winners The winners of these awards must agree to participate in activities associated with Opinno and MIT Technology Review including debates, innovator meet-ups, technology conferences, and committees of future competitions and award presentations. Similarly, they should maintain contact with the organization throughout the advancement of their projects in a periodic fashion. The presentation of a candidacy necessarily implies the accordance with all these terms and conditions.
