CITRIS is proud to announce the fourth annual CITRIS White
Paper competition, which will give away $30K in cash prizes for the best ideas
that demonstrate the ability of IT to address a major societal challenge. The
IT for Society contest is open to students from all four CITRIS campuses: UC
Berkeley, UC Merced, UC Santa Cruz, and UC Davis.
More information: http://contest.berkeley.edu/contest_pages/129
Last year's winners: http://www.citris-uc.org/Big-idea-winners-2008
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About the contest:
CITRIS is interested in stimulating new thinking on a broad range of
social benefits of information technology in areas such as: energy and
the environment, health, education and life-long learning, democratic
governance, response to natural and man-made disasters, transportation,
delivery of government services, quality of life for people with
disabilities, economic opportunity for low-income communities, arts and
culture, and the effectiveness of non-profit organizations. Describe a
multidisciplinary research project that would demonstrate the capacity
of IT to help address a major societal challenge.
Deadline
All submissions are due 5:00 p.m. PST March 23, 2009. Late entries
will not be accepted. All entries should be submitted electronically
to: it4society@gmail.com in HTML, Word, or PDF with the following file name format: "Last Name_IT" Finalists will be asked to make a short presentation on their proposal.
Length
White papers should be 5-10 pages in length, not including appendices.
Prize
A total of $30,000 in cash prizes is available, which will be allocated as follows:
- First place: $12,500
- Second place: $7,500
- 3 honorable mentions at $2500 each
Prizes will only be awarded if there are high-quality submissions.
The cash can be used a scholarships or to support the proposed
project or idea (e.g. research, travel, workshops, miscellaneous
expenses).
Winners will also be able to post their project on the Big Ideas
marketplace, which allows people and organizations to make online
donations to support specific student projects and initiatives.
Eligibility
At least one member of the team must be an undergraduate or graduate student from one of the four CITRIS campuses:
UC Berkeley, Davis, Santa Cruz or Merced. Multidisciplinary teams are strongly encouraged.
Decisions of the Judges
Decisions of the judges are final and not subject to appeal.
Faculty Advisor
Winners who intend to use the money to support their proposed idea
or project will be required to have a faculty advisor. This is not
required at the time of submission.
Required Information
The following information must be required (which does not count against the 5-10 page limit):
- Names and brief bios of team members, including major and student status (e.g. undergrad, grad)
- Contact information for primary contact.
- Whether or not you consent to public, online dissemination of your white paper.
- 1-2 paragraphs on what your team would do with the money.