Deadline: May 9, 2025
Applications are open for the World Food Forum Transformative Research Challenge 2025. The WFF Transformative Research Challenge (TRC) is a global competition designed to empower young researchers to develop innovative and impactful solutions to transform agrifood systems. Since its inception in 2021, the World Food Forum (WFF) Youth Innovation Lab has partnered with leading organizations in agrifood research and United Nations Agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to address critical challenges through a global platform.
The TRC supports participants to develop research proposals that lead to actionable and tangible solutions. Finalists pitch their ideas at the WFF flagship event held at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy. Over the years, the TRC has collaborated with 18 prominent organizations, including Wageningen University and Research (WUR), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), EIT Food and CGIAR, to covering more than prize categories on critical agrifood systems topics. Out of over 2 000 applications submitted globally, the TRC has awarded more than USD 500 000 in grants and in-kind support to 71 youth-led innovative research projects.
Benefits
- Research funding: Winning teams receive up to USD $10,000 in research funding to implement their research projects. In addition, one team will be selected from the winners of each TRC category as the overall winner of the 2025 Transformative Research Challenge and will be awarded an additional USD $10,000 in research funding.
- Global visibility: Finalist teams receive recognition for their innovative work through the WFF website and social media channels, showcasing their projects to a global audience.
- Networking opportunities: Finalist teams connect with a global network of young leaders, agrifood experts and representatives from the public and private sectors, including the United Nations.
- Capacity development: Semi-finalist teams receive expert guidance to strengthen their skills in research proposal development.
- Invitation to FAO headquarters: Finalist teams are invited to present their research at the TRC Finals held at FAO headquarters in Rome in October 2025, in front of a high-level jury and a global audience via live stream on a range of platforms including UN Web TV.
- Post awards support: Finalists are invited to apply for the WFF Youth Food Lab incubator programme. Winning teams may also receive continued support to further develop and implement their research proposals.
Eligibility
- Open to teams of at least 3 and up to 5 individuals (Entrants). All team members must be between the ages of 18 and 35 at the time of submission of their Concept Note.
- All applicants must hold at least a bachelor’s degree in a field related to agrifood systems, which includes but is not limited to areas such as agriculture, food science, environmental science, sustainable development or other related disciplines.
- FAO employees and their immediate family members (spouses, parents, children, siblings and their respective spouses, regardless of where they live) or persons living in the same households of such employees, whether related or not, are not eligible to enter the competition.
- Entrants can only submit original works for which they are the sole creators and copyright holders. In the case of a group of authors, the names and ages of all authors must be listed and will be considered as a single Entrant.
Application
Submit your application before May 9, 2025 at 24:00 (PDT).
For more information, visit WFF Transformative Research Challenge.
