10th edition of the Geneva Challenge 2023: The Challenges of Loneliness

The Geneva Graduate Institute is proud to launch the 10th edition of the Geneva Challenge – Advancing Development Goals Contest to address “The Challenges of Loneliness”.

Donor Name: Geneva Graduate Institute

Country: Global

Type of Grant: Challenge

Deadline: 04/23/2023

Size of the Grant: 25,000 CHF

Details:

Eager to stimulate reflection and innovation on development from diverse disciplinary and contextual perspectives and with the generous support of Ambassador Jenö Staehelin, the Graduate Institute has launched in 2014 the Advancing Development Goals Contest, an international competition for Master students.

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.

The Challenges of Loneliness

A substantial proportion of people worldwide, from young adults to seniors, experience problematic levels of loneliness, including social, emotional and physical loneliness. Loneliness impacts people`s physical and mental wellbeing, as well as their ability to fully participate in political, social and economic life. The experience of loneliness is prevalent in all parts of societies, among people from all socio-economic backgrounds, ages, and genders. Socially excluded and marginalised groups experience higher levels of loneliness, further exacerbating existing societal inequalities.

Categories

This year, they will distribute five prizes, one per continent. The five finalist teams will be invited to come to Geneva for their project showcases and the award ceremony in November 2023. 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 Latin America

Prize Details

The ADG contest distributes 25,000 CHF in monetary prizes. The winning project will be awarded CHF 10,000; the two teams in second place will receive CHF 5,000 each and the two teams in third place, CHF 2,500 each.

Eligibility Criteria

Participants of the ADG Contest 2023 must be enrolled as graduate students at the time of their registration for the contest.
- They consider “graduate students” to be anyone enrolled in a post bachelor level university programme with a maximum duration of 2 (two) years, or anyone who can prove to be studying towards acquiring a master’s level degree or equivalent.
Participants must gather in teams of 3 (three) to 5 (five) graduate students. In the submitted analysis, they should contribute with an interdisciplinary approach or from at least 2 (two) different disciplinary perspectives.
- No participation on an individual basis will be admitted.
- The participants can be enrolled in the same graduate programme or can collaborate with students from other programmes from the university they are enrolled in or coordinate with students from different universities and institutions worldwide.
- The category in which the team will be placed for the contest will be based on the continent of the universities predominantly represented within the team.
  - In case there is an equal representation of continents within the team, the team decides in which category they wish to compete.
All team members must provide a scanned copy of a document that serves as proof of enrolment as a graduate student before the registration of the team can be confirmed and validated.
- Any official document issued by the academic institution the student is affiliated to is accepted as proof of enrolment as long as it contains:
  - The name of the student;
  - The program the student is enrolled in;
  - An issuance date up to three months before the registration date or
  - Validity beyond the registration date.
Exceptionally, they might accept the registration of students who are transitioning into graduate studies, as long as they have already been accepted in a graduate student programme at the time of the registration.