This year’s university competitions

The TEDI-London Summer School features a group of international students from the UK, USA and Australia. The students spend three weeks immersing themselves in a topic via the university's online material before three weeks in-person on campus at…

InvEnterPrize is a student ideas competition run annually and now in its tenth year. The competition is open to students and recent graduates to submit their business idea and have a chance to win a £10,000 Alumni funded cash prize, and other cash…

First year undergraduate engineering students undertook a group design project for their Design and Practice module. Students were tasked with developing business ideas that solved real-world problems that London is facing. Approximately 300…

The Student Enterprise Fund is designed to support a broad range of early-stage businesses, social enterprises and freelancers. Specifically, the BUILD pathway allows eligible students to win EIBF funding for their innovations. Students can win up…

Engineering and computer science students from Teesside University were challenged to ideate around the UN17 Sustainable Development Goals.

The Leading Engineering Endeavours Project is undertaken by Level 5 engineering students at Birmingham City University (BCU). This year, 101 students took part and put into interdisciplinary teams drawn from mechanical, automotive, electronic and…

This is a new competition, exclusively for students from the Aston University College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, in particular students studying mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, product design and computer science. It is…

The Engineering Business Ideas competition run by Edinburgh Innovations offers students and recent graduates from the University of Edinburgh the opportunity to win a share of £1,000 to help make their engineering business ideas a startup reality.

Canterbury Christ Church University partnered with local bespoke shopfitting firm, the Sublime Group, to set students the challenge of drastically reducing the installation time of Sublime’s custom designs, traditionally spanning two weeks.The…

With a focus on sustainability, climate change and community the De Montfort University hackathon tackled the issue of temperate rises in high rise buildings. Splitting into smaller groups students had a week to identify and work on a solution for…

Bright Ideas is Kingston University’s annual competition designed to give students the opportunity to gain more confidence in ideation, developing and presenting an idea. Open to any students of any faculty at any level, the competition allows…

Invent for the Planet (IFTP) is an innovation fostering 48-hour global collaborative competition, where students from almost 40 universities, including Swansea University, come together to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing our planet. The…

The Enterprise Challenge is a the University of Greenwich’s annual competition that provides mentoring, training and funding for entrepreneurial students who want to pursue a business idea. All students and recent graduates of up to two years are…

Venture is Scotland’s largest university funding competition for new business ideas. It is a three-stage competition for all University of Dundee students, staff and recent graduates split across different prize fund categories, with a total prize…

Imperial College Business School students designed a business based on gaps they saw in the market and issues relevant to their communities. Students were required to develop a pitch deck and video tape how they pitched the business, as well as test…

The University of Bath’s Engineering Challenge saw students take part in a series of workshops on enterprise, entrepreneurship and inclusive leadership before competing in teams to win a share of the £2,950 prize pot.

The University of York’s Business, Innovation and Enterprise Dragon’s Den event was the culmination of 12 weeks of learning through lectures and practical workshop sessions, offered to students from any department and any academic level of study.…

The Starting a Business event was the culmination of nine weeks of learning through lectures and practical workshop sessions, offered to University of Warwick engineering students. The final business ideas presented were from a diverse group of…

Ulster University’s competition allows engineering students to showcase their thesis research endeavours, with prizes handed out after assessment from academic staff as well the public and student body. In addition to Engineering in Business…

The University of the Highlands and Islands Business Competition is open to everyone over the age of 16 living within the Highlands and Islands region, including students at all 13 colleges and research centres within the University of the Highlands…

QUB’s Dragons’ Den, competition is one of many initiatives organised by SU Enterprise, the entrepreneurial arm of Queen’s Students’ Union which helps students develop enterprise skills and start their own businesses. Dragons’ Den competitors develop…

Architects and engineers worked together in Loughborough University’s challenge to create a ‘net zero’ building located in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Teams worked together to determine building orientation, layout, materials, mechanical systems, and…

Cardiff University’s Spring StartUp Awards are open to all students and recent graduates who are working on a business idea anywhere from idea generation right through to already running their business. Engineering students have a dedicated…

Enterprise Hub Bursaries (funded by Santander Universities, Engineers in Business Fellowship, Ulster University Alumni Donor and Research & Innovation) are available annually to provide equity free seed funding to encourage student…

Eureka! is a new enterprise competition for engineering students, researchers and recent alumni who have an innovative idea that addresses the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in some way. The competition is timed to provide a pathway from the…

Manchester Metropolitan University’s competition brought together some of the brightest minds from its science, engineering, business and law faculties. The competition, organised by MYY Venture Capital, aims to scout AI and data science startups…

WE Innovate, organised by Imperial Enterprise Lab, Imperial College London’s dedicated entrepreneurship training centre, is an annual six-month programme and competition championing women-led teams with an entrepreneurial idea to explore. This…

Engineering You’re Hired is an intensive one week activity that is compulsory for all second years within the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sheffield. Students choose a problem to fix and are then placed in multi-disciplinary,…

Ingenuity Impact is a national innovation and entrepreneurship programme that directly addresses the UK’s major social, health and environmental challenges through the creation of impactful start-ups. The programme is inclusive, diverse and…

University of Exeter’s annual Elevate competition is designed to encourage and support engineers who want to take their ideas from the drawing board to the marketplace. Solo and interdisciplinary teams entered from across the University, with…

The University of Hertfordshire’s enterprise ideas challenge, Flare, is a highly competitive annual competition that gives student and alumni entrepreneurs the support and training they need to bring their business ideas to life, no matter how far…

Ingenuity Impact is a national innovation and entrepreneurship programme that directly addresses the UK’s major social, health and environmental challenges through the creation of impactful start-ups. The programme is inclusive, diverse and…

The Researcher to Innovator programme at The University of Manchester aims to inspire and accelerate the translation of the knowledge created through final year undergraduates, postgraduates and early career research projects into products, services…

The New Enterprise Competition is a flagship in the University of Bristol’s business idea challenge opportunities. Run annually, participants can win a packages of support totally £35,000. Prizes include cash, legal support, marketing, business…

This competition is designed for Foundation Year students to broaden their awareness of the future careers and opportunities that studying engineering and physics can lead to. The competition is integrated into an assessed group project of the…

In this competition, working in teams, students propose an innovation, service or product idea relating to the Information Technology, Electronics and Computing sector that they believe could be commercialised. The proposed business idea should aim…

The Green Tech Jam runs over 12 weeks, engaging Computer Science students in a series of lectures, practical workshops, and guest talks. Students collaborate in teams to develop web applications with a focus on social impact. These web applications…

The MSc Entrepreneurship Pitch Day is a dynamic event where MSc Entrepreneurship students from UCL School of Management present their start-up ideas in a competitive setting, vying for cash prizes aimed at accelerating their business ventures. The…

University of East London’s (UEL) Medical Physiology and Biomedical Engineering undergraduate students, forming groups of 3-4, dedicated themselves to developing innovative business solutions that address critical gaps in medicine and healthcare. At…

The Grand Challenge is a three-week project where students work in cross-disciplinary and cross-year teams to conceptualise, design and produce a product (in line with CDIO). They produce a business case, and a promotional video and demonstrate…