ideas@iimt Award
If you answered “yes” to the questions above, this award is for you!
Any registered student at Unifr may inscribe. The best projects on campus will have the chance to pitch to a panel of experts. The winner group will be rewarded with CHF 1’500.- for pushing the development of the product/service further.
Don’t lose this opportunity and give your idea the boost it deserves!
Rules and Guidelines
1) Basic rules for inscription
To be accepted, the projects must be new/original, and innovative; they must represent more than a plan, i.e. the first realization step should have been successfully completed. They may be developed by a single student or in a group, as long as at least one of the members is enrolled at the University of Fribourg. The student may be enrolled in either Bachelor, Master or, PhD studies, from any of the five faculties: Faculty of Humanities; Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences; Faculty of Law; Faculty of Theology; and Faculty of Science and Medicine. Executive students from the iimt are also welcome to participate.
2) Process of submitting the application
Projects that observe the indicated criteria will have to fill up an inscription form at the iimt homepage, providing information of the project’s responsible (such as name, age, main discipline studied), as well as the name of all other group members, a short description of the project (including the current status of the project) and a summarized business plan. Pictures of the prototype may be attached to the application files (with a three-page limit per project).
3) Stage of development
For the project to be considered by the award’s curators, the idea must be at a stage of development in which the first manifestations are visible (proof of concept) and can reach until shortly before the start-up is founded. Officially registered startups will not be accepted. All innovative ideas must have a business plan and arguments to prove their executability.
4) Procedure to define the shortlist of nominees
All proposals submitted will be reviewed by a panel of experts appointed by the ideas@iimt Board and a representative of iimt Alumni.The jury will grade each participating idea. They will also draw and submit a list with the participants they believe should be among the finalists. Based on the scores, the most promising ideas will have the opportunity to present a 10 minutes pitch to the jury, followed by a feedback section. The groups will again be judged and the winner will be awarded a prize during the iimt’s annual graduation ceremony. The jury’s deliberations will be conducted confidentially; no correspondence will be conducted. The legal process is excluded.
5) Judging criteria
- Clarity of the business idea (ex. a clear view of the product/service was provided; it triggers public curiosity; market potential was calculated and is realistic; presents good arguments to attract investors).
- Value created by the idea (ex. it is new and unique; it is clear how clients will be satisfied; the importance of the solution for other stakeholders was presented).
- Market opportunity (market can be estimated; estimated profitability expected; chances to be monetized; business model is realistic; the idea is scalable; barriers and competitors are identified; estimated time to go to market).
- Technology viability (ex. distribution channels are identified, intellectual property may be secured, regulatory issues were considered, milestones for the development are indicated).
- Financial forecast (ex. initial amount of investment is estimated; as well as the forecast for revenue; fix and flexible costs)
6) Amount of financial support
The winning idea will be awarded a prize of CHF 1’500 to support the further development of their idea. The financial prize is made possible thanks to the partnership and support of the iimt-Alumni.