2024-25 Stanford Longevity Design Challenge: Designing for Life Transitions

The Stanford Center on Longevity Design Challenge offers over $20K in cash prizes and free entrepreneur mentorship in a competition open to all university students around the world who want to design products and services which optimize long life for us all. The 2024-2025 Stanford Center on Longevity Design Challenge invites student designers to create solutions that expand or rethink education and learning opportunities at any age.

CHALLENGE GOALS:

1. Create well-designed, practical solutions that improve well-being across the lifespan
2. Encourage a new generation of students to become knowledgeable about issues associated with long lives
3. Provide promising designers with a path to drive change in the world

ABOUT THE 2024-25 DESIGN CHALLENGE THEME: Reimagining Education and Learning for Long Lives

To fully engage with our long lives, we must change our approach to learning and education. Rather than going to school for a fixed number of years when we’re young, the Stanford Center on Longevity’s New Map of Lifeenvisions learning new knowledge and skills throughout our lives, regardless of age.

Recognizing the integral relationship between education, health, and longevity, the challenge emphasizes the importance of innovative approaches that promote cognitive, physical, and financial well-being across the lifespan. From incorporating movement into learning environments to ensuring that everyone has the skills they need for whatever changes come their way, including switching careers or dealing with new technology, there are many opportunities to broaden our understanding of learning and establish it as a lifelong pursuit.

Students are invited to create solutions that expand or rethink education and learning opportunities at any age, particularly those that close opportunity gaps and ensure equitable access to educational opportunities for all, regardless of socio-economic background or age.

Examples of longevity education and learning needs include (but are not limited to):

• Reskilling
• Financial literacy
• Pathways for non-college education
• Intergenerational opportunities
• Digital literacy
• Play and physical movement for children

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

Register to participate and submit your entry here: https://designchallengestanford.skild.com/

• Register to Participate: Register to participate here between September 9 – December 4, 2024. You may participate as an individual or as part of a team. Teams may have a maximum of 5 members. See the “Teams and eligibility” section of the FAQ below for more information about team rules. If you are registering as a team, the person who registers first will be designated the team leader. They can then add everyone else as team members.
• Prepare your submission: You can view all the materials you will need to prepare in this preview of the entry form. Please see the “Submissions” sections of the FAQ below for more information about the entry form. If you still have questions, please email designchallenge@stanford.edu.
• Submit your design: Once you have prepared your materials, log in and complete the entry form. The form will be open from September 9 until 11:59 PM Pacific time on December 4, 2024. After the December 4 deadline, the judges will evaluate all submitted designs according to the judging criteria (see the Details section below for more information).
• Finalists: Finalists will be announced on January 29, 2025. Finalists will be awarded $1,000 US and paired with an experienced mentor. Finalists will compete in the final competition for $10,000 in April 2025. The finals are expected to be held in-person at Stanford University. Finalists are reimbursed (limited) travel costs. Each team will have 7 minutes to pitch their idea to the panel of judges. The judges will use the same criteria as for the initial submissions and will decide the top three winners on the same day as the pitches.

CHALLENGE TIMELINE

The challenge is organized into two phases that are synchronized with the academic year.

• Phase I:  September – December 2024: Phase I is the open call portion of the challenge. During this time, teams will learn about the topic and create their solution concept. The Challenge organizing team will be available during this time for questions. Solutions may be submitted at any time during this period, but no judging feedback will be available until January.
• Judging Period: December 2024 – January 2025: During this period, our judging panel will select a small number of finalists. Finalists will be announced in late January.
• Phase II: January 2025 – April 2025: During Phase II, finalists will be asked to further develop their idea and to prepare a presentation. Mentors from corporate partners and industry experts will be available during this period.