Ideas contest for student projects
Sustainability – because you can make a difference.
SDGs go live – make it your project!
Faculty of Life Sciences call for contest entries – Funding for up to €1000 in expenses
We invite all students and doctoral candidates, regardless of their subject area, to enter innovative and sustainable project ideas based on the implementation of the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs).
With the project 'Sustainability – because you can make a difference', we want to raise awareness about the importance and potential of the SDGs in a world that is constantly changing and support the development of sustainable solutions to the challenges of our time.
We're looking for projects that can be implemented in winter semester 2023/24 and have concrete impacts on or connections to at least one of the 17 SDGs. They should identify specific problems and develop solutions to them.
The project aims to support cooperation between students and/or doctoral candidates from different subjects and disciplines and with partners from business and civil society. We will be looking especially for creative and original approaches and interdisciplinary cooperation.
Possible topics include, but aren't limited to, the following areas:
- Climate change and energy
- Nutrition and agriculture
- Health
- Biomedical engineering
- Resources and closed-loop economies
- Education and equal opportunity
- Societal transformation and resilient infrastructure
Who will decide which ideas are selected?
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A jury will review the ideas submitted. The 10 most convincing project ideas will be recognised with a certificate and a gift certificate for the mensa.
Additionally, each project selected can receive up to €1000 in funding in winter semester (reimbursement of expenses).
What are the entry requirements?
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- Participation is open to teams made up of HAW Hamburg students, doctoral candidates and/or instructors/professors.
- A project team needs to consist of six people who come from at least two difference degree courses/disciplines.
- The majority of the team members need to be from the Faculty of Life Sciences.
- The team needs to include at least one full-time instructor/professor to ensure that the project is developed and implemented in an academic context.
- We are aiming to make it possible for students to obtain credit points for elective courses through the project; however, we cannot guarantee that this will be the case.
- Project partners from business and civil society are encouraged but not absolutely necessary.
- The projects should focus on implementing at least one of the 17 SDGs or draw on them in a teaching context.
- Each team can submit one project idea only.
- The project outline should have a maximum length of 5 A4 pages.
- The outline should be submitted in German or English.
- Please submit the project outline by 6:00 pm on 17 October 2023 to nachhaltigkeit (at) ls.haw-hamburg (dot) de.
What are the assessment criteria?
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Practical orientation (25%): To what extent does the project address a concrete social justice or environmental issue?
Relevance (30%): To what extent does the project contribute to achieving one of the SDGs?
Interdisciplinarity (20%): To what extent will the project draw simultaneously on different disciplines to address the issue?
Collaboration (14%): What level of cooperation with other departments, faculties or partners from business and civil society does the project entail?
Sustainability (8%): How sustainable and long-term is the soluttion? What are the project's follow-up prospects?
Originality (3%): How innovative and creative is the project idea?
Are there other places where I can find more information?
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Have a look at the Moodle platform about the ideas contest 'Sustainability – because you can make a difference':
https://moodle.haw-hamburg.de/course/view.php?id=2918
You can post your idea and find others who have the same interests.
Where should the project outlines be submitted?
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Please send your project outline (consisting of max. 5 A4 pages) to:
nachhaltigkeit (at) ls.haw-hamburg (dot) de
The deadline is 17 October 2023 at 6:00 pm.
Contest dates
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17 October 2023, 6:00 pm: Submission deadline for project outlines
26 October 2023: Sustainability Day at the Faculty of Life Sciences
2:30 pm, lecture hall 0.43
Announcement of the jury's decision regarding the 10 project outlines selected for funding
Faculty of Life Sciences sustainability event
Programme to follow
1 November 2023–31 March 2024: Project period
Beginning of summer semester 2024: Awards ceremony and presentation of the projects. The three best projects will be awarded a prize.
A new project phase will begin in summer 2024.
We are convinced that the 'SDGs go live' ideas contest will contribute to developing innovative solutions to the problems currently facing society, initiating ideas for transformative and sustainable teaching, and supporting cooperation between students and partners from academia, business, politics and civil society.
We look forward to receiving your innovative project ideas and are excited to see how you drive the implementation of the SDGs!
