By Brenda Wintrode
For the first time, the graduate school will offer both master’s and doctorate students a chance to enter into a global innovation competition against 26 other international research institutions, according to Robyn Kotzker, the assistant director of the Office of Funding Opportunities.
The competition, called the “U21/PwC Innovation Challenge,” a collaboration between the network of research universities known as Universitas 21 and the multinational consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, asks students to submit a 3-minute video of themselves responding to the following prompt:
“How can universities help individuals gain a broader perspective on the long-term impact and consequences of their day-to-day actions on people, society and the environment? What types of jobs will an environmentally sensitive economy need, and what is the best way to prepare students for them?”
The University of Maryland is one of 27 U21 members collaborating on research throughout the world and one of three U21 members in the U.S. A “multidisciplinary faculty panel” convened by the graduate school will choose up to four students’ videos by Nov. 30 to represent the university internationally.
The graduate school participates yearly in a similar contest called the “Three Minute Thesis Competition,” or 3MT, against other U21 institutions. U21 is a global network of research institutions “focused on fostering global citizenship and encouraging institutional innovation,” according to their website.
Two University of Maryland doctorate candidates have won this competition since the school joined the U21 in 2013. Sammy Ramsey, an environmental science and technology major, won in 2017, and Amy Marquardt, a materials science and engineering major, won in 2014.
In 2017, Sammy Ramsey, Ph.D., then a doctorate candidate at the University of Maryland, won first place and the people’s choice award in Universitas 21’s international 3-Minute Thesis Competition with this 3-minute distillation of his research on a honey bee-killing parasitic mite called Varroa destructor. (Source: YouTube.com)
Raluca Nahorniac, associate director of international affairs, said the university’s membership in the U21 collaborative has strengthened its position as a “globally connected university.”
“U21 participation allows us to contribute to and be inspired by extraordinary national and international colleagues, while fostering world-scale conversation, engagement, and innovation for the common good,” Nahorniac said in an email.
This year’s innovation challenge offers students a twist.
“It’s similar to 3MT because it requires a 3-minute response, but it’s not about a student’s research, it’s about their answers to the prompt,” said Kotzker, who is responsible for facilitating the graduate school’s entries into both competitions.
There’s one other distinct difference between the two competitions. For the innovation challenge, the winning submission can be a student pursuing either a doctorate degree or a master’s degree. Whereas, in the 3MT, only a doctorate candidate’s submission can be submitted to the international contest. Master’s students can only be chosen as one of six winners for the campus-level 3MT.
Winners of the innovation challenge will be announced the week of March 9, 2020, and will receive a 7-day trip to Dubai to see the city’s innovative designs, according to U21’s website.
Six runners-up from the global competition will receive career development coaching from PwC, and all entrants will be eligible for online training through PwC Academy, an online executive learning site.
To enter, students must be a registered graduate or Ph.D. student at a U21 member school. Collaborations between two students each at individual U21 institutions can jointly compete.
The last day to register to compete for the challenge is Friday, Nov. 1 and the video, along with one slide, must be submitted by Nov. 13.
As of Oct. 30, Kotzker said she had received 35 registrants.