Geneva Graduate Institute 2023 Geneva Challenge

The 2023 Advancing Development Goals International Contest for Graduate Students aims to present innovative and pragmatic solutions to address the challenges of loneliness.

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.

• Table of Content
• About Geneva Graduate Institute
• Geneva Challenge
• Aim and Benefits of Geneva Challenge
• Requirements for Geneva Challenge Qualification
• Application Deadline
• How to Apply

About Geneva Graduate Institute

The Geneva Graduate Institute is a higher education institution and a pioneer in the exploration of global issues. Through our core missions – academic research, teaching, expertise and forum activities – we produce and share knowledge on international relations, development issues, global challenges and governance. Located in the heart of International Geneva, a centre of global governance, we build on scientific excellence and transdisciplinarity to foster critical and creative thinking on the major challenges of our time. By engaging with international organisations, NGOs, go... continue reading

Geneva Challenge

Aim and Benefits of Geneva Challenge

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.

Requirements for Geneva Challenge Qualification

1. Participants of the ADG contest 2022 must be enrolled as graduate students at the time of their registration for the contest.

• We 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. Exceptionally, we 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. 

Application Deadline

How to Apply

What is the difference between the two deadlines?

The registration deadline is simply the date by which we need you to fill in an application form and send us your proof of enrolment, confirming your status as a master student.

• The confirmation documents (enrolment certificates or student cards) should contain your name, your graduate programme and a recent issuance date.

• In case you do not have these documents at the time of your registration, please send them to this email address ([email protected]).

Following the registration, you have four months to prepare you proposal, which is due by the submission deadline. Your project must be submitted on a form before midnight 12 am (Central Europe Time), on July 14 2023.

For more details, visit Geneva Graduate Institute website.