Idea, Innovation, Business: A Science Challenge

The Short Version

The Idea, Innovation, Business Science Challenge gives teams of students, researchers, and professionals a five-month runway to turn a scientific or technical concept into a working, market-ready project.

At a Glance:

• Entry is free and open to teams worldwide, and every member needs a free TeraOpenScience account.
• You choose or draft a technology, write a project plan, post it in the PROJECT section, and tag it #IdeaInnovationBusiness by October 31, 2026.
• The five top-scoring Phase 1 teams earn grants of $5,000 or $7,500, depending on their jury score.
• Teams that reach a qualifying commercial deal in Phase 2 keep 75% of the net proceeds.
• Winners of the Grand Prize, Best Project Defense, and Best Business Plan each receive a lifelong free platform subscription.

The challenge runs in two phases, starting with a written project plan and moving into a funded, mentored build period. Everything happens on the platform, which keeps your work visible to jurors, potential collaborators, and industry partners the whole way through.

How the Challenge Works

The challenge has two phases with separate selection rounds. In Phase 1, teams submit a written execution plan, and a jury selects the strongest projects. In Phase 2, the selected teams spend five months building, testing, and defending their project, with grants and commercialization rewards on the line.

Phase 1 opens on October 1, 2026 and closes on October 31, 2026. The jury reviews entries during the first half of November, and results arrive on November 15, 2026. The Phase 2 build period then runs from November 16, 2026 through April 23, 2027, with final awards announced on April 30, 2027. Every stage stays on the platform, which keeps your project in front of jurors and potential partners as it develops.

Who Can Enter

Any team can enter, whether its members are students, researchers, independent inventors, or working professionals, as long as they meet a few requirements. Participants must be at least 18, or have consent from a parent or legal guardian. Each person joins one team only, each team submits one entry, and every member holds a free account. Team composition must be final by October 31, 2026.

Every team has a Team Lead who starts the project, recruits members, submits the entry, and acts as the main contact. The Team Lead can already belong to the platform or create a free account to join. Employees of TeraOpenScience, jury members, and their immediate families cannot take part.

Phase 1: Draft Your Project

Phase 1 asks each team to submit a written execution plan that shows how the project will move forward over the five-month build. This is not the final business plan. It is the roadmap your team commits to following if the jury selects you for Phase 2.

What to include

Your Phase 1 entry needs to cover the idea itself and the plan behind it. Include the following:

• Describe the proposed innovation or new application.
• Write an executive summary of the project.
• Add a short resume or LinkedIn profile for each team member.
• Lay out a project plan that covers team roles, milestones, a technical development strategy, a supply chain roadmap, and a business plan outline.
• Confirm in writing that your team follows your university or institution policies.

Protecting a patentable idea

Entries are visible to the jury and, by default, to the community. Teams that want to protect a patentable idea can create the project in private mode and invite the jury directly. This matters because public posting counts as public disclosure, and the United States gives inventors only a one-year grace period to file afterward. Review the intellectual property terms before you choose, and note that many universities claim rights in inventions made with their resources.

How Entries Are Judged

A jury of researchers, industry leaders, and innovation experts scores every eligible entry against five weighted criteria. Each juror rates each project independently with a Six Sigma Cause and Effect Matrix, and the average of those scores sets the final result. Jury decisions are final, and any juror with a conflict of interest steps aside.

• Innovation and originality of the proposed application25%
• Technical feasibility and quality of the development strategy25%
• Quality and realism of the execution plan25%
• Team composition, skills, and capacity to deliver15%
• Potential for real-world scientific, societal, or commercial impact10%

Phase 1 Grants

Every eligible entry gets featured on the platform and promoted across the platform’s social channels, which puts your work in front of a wide audience right away. The five highest-scoring teams also receive a grant, with the amount tied to their average score.

Grants are paid to the Team Lead in installments, with 50% at kickoff, 25% after the two-month report, and 25% after the four-month report. Funds cover project costs such as materials, prototyping, testing, and travel needed for the project. Teams that score at least 50% but miss the top five still advance to Phase 2 without a grant, and any team may add an approved sponsor.

Phase 2: Build, Test, and Defend

Phase 2 turns the plan into a working project over five months. Selected teams carry out their research plan, run a proof-of-concept or field test, and prepare a full business plan. Staff provide mentorship check-ins and help teams approach potential industrial buyers along the way.

Core deliverables are required of every team, while extended deliverables are encouraged and score favorably. The jury understands that a five-month project may not finish every item.

The written plan follows the same backbone investors expect, starting with an executive summary and market analysis. Interdisciplinary teams tend to produce higher-impact results, which makes mixing skills across science, engineering, and business worth the effort.

Phase 2 Rewards

Phase 2 pays off in two ways: a share of any commercial deal, and three awards for standout work regardless of commercial outcome.

Awards are announced April 30, 2027. Every member of the three winning teams receives a lifelong free subscription. Members also earn ScienceCoins on Ethereum and the Polygon layer-2 network as they contribute, and every team that completes the core deliverables gets a certificate and continued promotion.

Key Dates to Remember

Mark these dates now, because late entries will not be accepted. The Phase 1 window is short, and the build period includes fixed reporting checkpoints that every funded team must hit to keep receiving grant installments.

Contest FAQ

Quick answers to the questions we get most. The official rules take precedence if anything here is unclear.

Entering

Who can enter?

Teams can include students, independent inventors, researchers, and working professionals, and the team lead can be any of them. Participants must be at least 18, or have verifiable consent from a parent or legal guardian. Each person can join only one team, and each team can submit only one entry. TeraOpenScience employees, jury members, and their immediate families are not eligible.

Can I enter alone?

Yes. There’s no obligation to form a team, and a solo entrant is evaluated against the same judging criteria as everyone else. Keep in mind that 15% of the Phase 1 score is team composition and capacity to deliver, so working solo is likely to be harder. You can add members up to October 31, when rosters lock.

Does it cost anything?

No. Entry is free. Every team member needs a TeraOpenScience account: student accounts are free, and professional accounts are free for 90 days with no credit card required at sign-up.

What do we submit?

An execution plan, not a finished business plan. It needs to include the proposed innovation or new application, an executive summary, a short resume or LinkedIn profile for each team member, a project plan covering team roles, milestones, technical development strategy, a supply chain roadmap and a business plan outline, and a statement confirming compliance with your university or institution’s policies.

When is the deadline?

October 31, 2026. Your team roster must also be final by that date; changes afterward need written approval from TeraOpenScience.

Where do we post it?

Create a new project on the platform, post the written proposal there, and add the #IdeaInnovationBusiness tag so the jury can find it.

Judging and Phase 1 grants

How are entries judged?

A jury of eight industry leaders, researchers, and innovation experts scores every entry individually using a Six Sigma Cause and Effect matrix, and the scores are averaged. Entries are weighted on innovation and originality (25%), technical feasibility and development strategy (25%), quality and realism of the execution plan (25%), team composition and capacity to deliver (15%), and potential real-world impact (10%). Jurors with a conflict of interest recuse themselves from that entry. Jury decisions are final.

What can we win?

The five highest-scoring entries receive a grant: $7,500 for an average score of 85% or higher, $5,000 for a score between 60% and 85%. Grants are paid to the team lead in three installments (50% at kickoff, 25% after the 2-month report, 25% after the 4-month report) and can only be used for project expenses. Every eligible entry is featured on the platform and promoted on TeraOpenScience’s social channels.

What if we don’t place in the top five?

Any team scoring at least 50% is still invited into Phase 2, without a grant, with the same access to mentorship, the jury, and the Phase 2 awards.

Privacy and intellectual property

Can we keep our entry private?

Yes. By default, entries are visible to the jury and the TeraOpenScience community. If you’d rather keep yours confidential, create the project in private mode and invite the jury members to it. A private project is invisible to everyone else: only the team lead can invite members, from the platform or by email, and anyone who joins signs the platform’s NDA electronically first. If your entry contains potentially patentable technology, use private mode, since a public post counts as public disclosure in many jurisdictions.

Who owns what we bring in?

You do. Pre-existing IP stays with its original owner, and your team keeps ownership of the IP it creates during the contest. If an idea hasn’t been filed yet, share it with your team inside a private project under NDA so it stays patentable. If you build on a technology hosted on the platform, that technology’s own license terms apply and selecting it doesn’t transfer its ownership. Many universities claim rights in student inventions, so check your institution’s IP policy before entering.

What rights does TeraOpenScience get?

A non-exclusive, royalty-free license to display, promote, and archive your submission on the platform and in contest communications. That’s it. Ownership of your work stays with the team.

Phase 2

What happens in Phase 2?

Phase 2 runs from November 16, 2026 to April 23, 2027. Teams execute the plan they committed to in Phase 1, with mentorship check-ins from TeraOpenScience staff. Required deliverables are an executive summary, a market research summary, execution of the R&D plan, a field test or documented proof of concept, a full business plan with 10-year financial projections and NPV, progress reports to the jury at the 2-month and 4-month marks, and a final project defense in the week of April 19 to 23, 2027. Manufacturing, supply chain, and go-to-market strategies are encouraged and weigh favorably.

What are the Phase 2 awards?

Three awards are announced on April 30, 2027: Grand Prize for best overall execution, Best Project Defense, and Best Business Plan. Every member of each winning team receives a lifelong free TeraOpenScience subscription. All teams that complete the core deliverables receive a certificate of completion and continued promotion on the platform.

What if we land a commercial deal?

If a Phase 2 project results in a qualifying transaction (a sale, license, or paid development agreement with an industrial partner introduced through or negotiated with TeraOpenScience) within 12 months of the end of the execution period, net proceeds are split 75% to the team and 25% to TeraOpenScience. The team’s share is divided equally unless the team agrees otherwise in writing. Each deal is documented in a separate agreement before any payout.

Sponsors and withdrawal

Can we bring our own sponsor?

Yes, with written approval from TeraOpenScience before Phase 2. Approval depends on the sponsor’s reputation, the absence of conflicts of interest with the platform or jury, and sponsorship terms that fit the contest’s IP rules.

Can we withdraw?

Yes, at any time, by written notice from the team lead. Withdrawing doesn’t affect ownership of your own work. If your team has already received grant money, any unspent or misspent funds must be repaid.

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