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What
are the goals of the $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize?
The prestigious $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize is designed
to recognize inventive graduating seniors and graduate
students at MIT. The underlying goal is to stimulate excitement
and interest in invention, science, and engineering at the Institute
and beyond.
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Must
the award money be used for research?
No, it's an unrestricted cash gift.
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How
many awards are there each year?
There is only one $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize presented
each year.
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Are
there any requirements for the winner?
The winner must attend a press conference on February 27, 2008.
Additionally, there will be requests to participate in public
education activities. We also encourage the winner to attend EurekaFest to be held in Boston, Mass., during the week of June 23, 2008.
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Who
is eligible to apply?
All MIT seniors and graduate students are eligible to compete
for this award regardless of major. Students must be enrolled
or scheduled to graduate MIT during the spring semester in which
the award is presented.
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When
is the deadline?
The deadline for this year is 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 18,
2007.
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Am I
required to have a patent?
No.
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Do I
forfeit my intellectual property rights by submitting an application?
Generally, no. We use only titles and short descriptions of
inventions for public relations purposes. Moreover, the judging
panel, as members of the MIT community, are asked to keep in
mind that student applications are distributed solely for the
purpose of evaluation for the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize and
should not be reproduced for other purposes. However, please
be aware that you will be barred from obtaining patent protection,
if the patent application is filed more than one year after
a "publication" that may permit a person reasonably
skilled in the field to make the invention based upon your application.
Please consult the MIT policies relating to intellectual property,
the MIT Technology Licensing Office (http://web.mit.edu/ipcounsel/),
and the USPTO (http://www.uspto.gov/)
to ensure protection of your intellectual property.
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Who
are the judges?
The judging panel is composed of MIT alumni from a variety
of backgrounds and professions, ranging from mechanical engineering,
biology, physics, and medicine to venture capital, environmental
policy, and patent law.
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On what
criteria are the applications judged?
The judges look at the following criteria: inventive behaviour;
creativity; potential as a role model; societal benefit; potential
for commercial success; and supporting letters.
No one criterion is considered paramount. Keeping in mind the
goals of the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize, we ask the judges to
take a holistic view of each application. Additionally, it is
important that applications are well-presented and complete
according to competition instructions.
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What
makes an excellent application?
• Follow
directions (e.g. word count, etc.)
• Write for a technically literate audience, while maintaining
a readable style similar to that of Scientific American
and Technology Review. While the judges are experienced
in their areas of discipline, not all of them will have expertise
in your area.
• Give your recommenders adequate time
to complete their letter and be sure they are aware of deadlines
and other expectations. |
