Deadline: April 26, 2019
Applications are invited for the Nokia Bell Labs Prize 2019. The Bell Labs Prize is a competition for innovators from participating countries around the globe that seeks to recognize proposals that ‘change the game’ in the field of information and communications technologies by a factor of 10, and provides selected innovators the unique opportunity to collaborate with Bell Labs researchers to help realize their vision.
The prize seeks game-changing and impactful ideas that have the potential to change the way we live, work and communicate with each other in the following categories: Web Applications, Cloud Services, Information Theory, Coding Theory, Computational Sciences, Cryptography, Distributed Systems, Data Privacy, Mathematics of Networks, Modulation Schemes, Optical Systems or Components, Communications Systems, Network Protocols, Security, Network Architecture, RF design, Sustainability, Wireless, Fixed Network technologies, Software-Defined Networks, Virtualization Technologies, Real-time Analytics, Search algorithms, Self-Optimizing Networks, Inference systems.
Prize
- Bell Labs will be awarding a
- 1st prize of $100K
- 2nd Prize of $50K and
- 3rd prize of $25K.
- All three winners will also be considered for the unique opportunity to work within the world-renowned Bell Labs to further explore their ideas, following the end of the competition.
Eligibility
- Open to innovators from participating countries around the globe. If you have a 10x game-changing idea and are interested in developing it with leading Bell Labs researchers, you have come to the right place.
- Applicants must register and submit proposals in the general areas of information and communications technologies. Applicants who register have to acknowledge that they have read, understood, and agree to the Terms and Conditions;
- If there are applicant wants to include team members then all team members have to register and accept the Terms and Conditions. Only four members per team are allowed;
- Applicants who advance to stage two have a more detailed agreement to fulfill because they may be exchanging intellectual property with Bell Labs in the process of application.
Evaluation Criteria
Ideas will be evaluated by Bell Labs researchers based on the following 3 criteria:
- 10x Innovation Potential – How is your proposal novel – what has not been done before, what is the “out of the box” thinking that could result in a 10x change in performance (e.g., speed/throughput, distance, latency, cost, energy efficiency or simplicity)?
- Technical Merit – How technically sound is your proposal? On what current principles and capabilities does it depend versus further/future advancements and innovations?
- Feasibility – Can a proof of concept, simulation or demonstration be built in the course of the competition? What is required to do so? In order to build a commercially viable (revenue and profit-generating) solution, what more would be required?
The finalists who present to the Judging Panel will also be evaluated on a 4th criterion, which focuses on the commercial value proposition:
- Business Impact – What is the magnitude of the new ICT-related business created by the proposal? How soon could it be brought to market and how differentiated/unique is the proposition?
Application
For more information, visit Nokia Bell Labs Prize.
