Big Idea Challenge finalists announced

Discovery Park has announced the finalists in its Big Idea Challenge, a new program that will provide resources to interdisciplinary teams of Purdue faculty and students pursuing bold proposals that address global challenges. Since the call for proposals in mid-October, there has been a very high level of interest and participation from faculty and students across campus.  

“The response to the Big Idea Challenge has been outstanding, and it has been exciting to watch these new partnerships evolve within Discovery Park that will catalyze and enable brand-new areas of research and tackle some of the most wicked problems facing our society today,” says Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, chief scientist and executive director of Discovery Park.

During the two-month submission window, Discovery Park received 46 proposal submissions from over 230 participants at Purdue, representing 10 colleges and 45 departments. All 19 of Discovery Park’s centers and institutes endorsed proposals topics, and though the vast majority were crosscutting in nature, proposals aligned thematically across five major areas of research: global sustainability, global health, data science, nanotechnology, and defense.

Suresh Garimella, executive vice president for research and partnerships, says of the effort, “The Big Idea Challenge is the essence of what Discovery Park is all about: forming new collaborations and bringing researchers together to solve the biggest problems. I’m eager to learn about the selected projects and look forward to the outcomes.”

The evaluation committee has reviewed the proposals, and Discovery Park has named the 17 finalists. Proposals selected to move on to the presentation phase are now posted on the Big Idea Challenge website: www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/resources/big-idea-finalists.php.

Finalists will pitch their proposal to the evaluation committee at 1 p.m. Feb. 23 in Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Room 121. The proposal teams will compete in an evaluation process similar to an entrepreneur’s pitch to venture capitalists and proposal presentations are open to the public.

The Big Idea Challenge will fund winning teams for up to two years with a pool of strategic investment resources. The anticipated outcome for award recipients is that teams will be able to identify and partner with organizations outside of Purdue and realize economic viability in their projects.

Writer: Amy Schlueter, 765-496-7823, aschlue@purdue.edu
Source: Cliff Wojtalewicz, 765-496-3961, cliffw@purdue.edu