• Individual and Team Participation Requirements - Who is eligible to complete in Wege Prize?

• The Challenge - What does Wege Prize challenge competitors to accomplish?

• The Process - What kinds of materials are Wege Prize competitors expected to submit and when?

• Judging Criteria - What are Wege Prize judges looking for?

• Prizes and Award Payouts - What can my team win and how can we receive our award?

• The Fine Print - What am I agreeing to by competing in Wege Prize?
  

Team Requirements

To be eligible to participate in Wege Prize, teams must:

• Have exactly five (5) members (no more, no less)

• Represent at least three (3) different academic disciplines (in terms of each participant’s current program of study–previously completed degree programs are not considered)

• Represent at least two (2) different institutions of higher education* (colleges, universities, or separate colleges/schools within a larger university) 

  *For instance, a team member from Example University’s School of Engineering and a team member from Example University’s School of Earth Sciences would be considered as representing two different institutions

Individual Requirements

To be eligible to join a Wege Prize team, individuals must:

• Be currently enrolled in a undergraduate, graduate, or post-graduate degree program program at a college, university, or equivalent institution of higher education anywhere in the world. (Teams can be composed of a mix of undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students if they so choose.)

• Be enrolled as a full-time (or equivalent) student for the duration of the competition. (If you are graduating before May of 2026, you must be enrolled as a student through at least December 15, 2025.

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Over the course of nine months, Wege Prize teams will compete to advance through up to four distinct phases of competition, growing their ideas from a preliminary proposal into a robust and feasible solution informed by research, market analysis, and real-world prototyping and testing. 

Each step of the way, they will be guided by direct feedback from a panel of expert judges who will help them strengthen their ideas, push the limits of possibility, and support bringing their plans into fruition.

Broadly speaking, the challenge of Wege Prize is to:

1. Build a strong and diverse team
   Teams with the greatest disciplinary and institutional diversity will likely have a higher probability of success.

1. Identify a “wicked” problem to address
   A “wicked” problem is highly complex problem that involves multiple stakeholder groups and is especially resistant to resolution. Efforts to solve one aspect of the problem often reveal or create other obstacles that must be addressed as well.

2. Develop a compelling circular solution
   Whether they take the form of a product, service, business, or something else, solutions should be driven by the three core principles of the circular economy.

The circular economy: three core principles

Wege Prize is looking for solutions that are:

• Circular – capable of functioning within a circular economy and helping power a shift towards renewables

• Innovative – providing unique value and exploring untapped potential

• Viable – with potential for marketability, profitability, and financial sustainability

• Scaleable – effectively contributing to expanding the global circular economy

• Systemic – accounting for the way in which parts of a system both influence each other and work as a whole

• Responsive – if behavioral change is needed for your solution to work, how will you help drive it?

• Human-Centered – demonstrating research-driven consideration of users and any affected stakeholders in all aspects of the solution

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Teams will be judged on the following criteria throughout Wege Prize:

Depth of Research

• To what depth have you identified, studied and analyzed the problem?

• Have you researched existing solutions?

• Have you consulted stakeholders and experts to refine your solution?

• Have you considered how your solution fits into or transforms existing systems?

Collaboration

• Have you built a strong and balanced transdisciplinary team?

• Beyond dividing up different tasks, have you worked across disciplinary boundaries and brought your different perspectives together?

• Have you effectively engaged stakeholders, mentors and/or subject matter experts in your design process?

Innovation and Implementation

• Does the solution help accelerate a circular economy?

• Is your solution technologically, economically, and financially feasible?

• Is your solution intentionally sensitive to the social and/or cultural context in which it operates?

• Is there a proven need and sufficient motivation for people to use your solution?

• Have you effectively considered what system conditions need to exist to make your solution possible?

• Have you prototyped your solution?

Presentation

• Is your presentation organized and visually appealing?

• Does it deliver a clear message with a compelling and concise narrative?

• Can you provide immediate and thoughtful answers to the judges’ questions?
  

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Wege Prize teams will contend for $65,000 (USD)* in total cash prizes, awarded by our panel of judges.

Prize Amounts

1st Place
$30,000 (USD)*

2nd Place
$20,000 (USD)*

3rd Place
$10,000 (USD)*

Finalist Award (x2)
$2,500 (USD)*

*Amount before applicable taxes. Tax situations vary by location, individual, and business tax status.

If you apply as a non-business entity:

Your cash prize will be split equally between all five members of your team and paid on an individual basis.

If you apply as a business entity:

Your cash prize will be paid as a lump sum to the business entity. 

You cannot enter Wege Prize 2026 as a business entity unless your business entity has a valid U.S. tax identification number (or Employer Identification Number: EIN). Tax liability varies by business type. Additional documentation will be required in order to make an award payment to the business.

If all team members are not part of the business entity but still want their portion of the award to go to said business entity, you may still choose this option. However, all team members must provide written consent before any payment can be made to the business.

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This competition is void where prohibited by law. There is no fee to enter the competition, however, you are responsible for any costs you may incur for creating and submitting the materials that comprise your solution.

Upon the date of submission, your solutions and any materials that comprise them will remain your intellectual property, which you are free to develop and promote at your own discretion. However, by submitting the materials that comprise your solution in this competition, you automatically grant Ferris State University’s Kendall College of Art and Design (KCAD) and The Wege Foundation the right to use said materials, as well as your personal profile information, including but not limited to, name, school, major, team name, image, and likeness, for any non-commercial purpose, including display, promotion, and assessment. Any non-commercial use of the materials that comprise your solution by the above parties will be accompanied by the appropriate attribution as to their creator and/or source.

To win, teams must have at least one member in attendance to present at the final presentation and awards event. All winners of cash prizes are solely responsible for any applicable U.S. income tax. U.S. income taxes will be withheld from any cash prize awarded to foreign citizens.

Any team or individual that fails to meet the eligibility requirements at any point in the competition will be disqualified. No exemptions to the individual and/or team eligibility requirements will be granted unless an Act of God is involved, including but not limited to, death or life-threatening injury of a team member, death or life-threatening injury in the immediate family of a team member, and extreme weather conditions.

Winners will be notified in person and will be required to complete an affidavit or declaration of eligibility/liability release, a publicity release, and such other documents as may be required by KCAD and The Wege Foundation. Required documents must be signed and received within 7 days of the date printed on the prize notification. Failure to comply or return of any prize notification as undeliverable may result in forfeiture of prize. A parent or guardian of a winner not of the age of majority in his or her state of residence will be required to ratify and sign required documents. Accepting prize money constitutes permission (except where prohibited by law) to use winners’ names, educational background (including name of institution and major of study) and/or likenesses for promotional purposes without further notice or monetary compensation.

Rules and regulations subject to change.

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