U21 RISE Awards

RISE stands for Real Impact on Society and Environment and U21 (Universitas 21) is an international university network, in which the UvA also participates. The U21 RISE Awards invite all U21 members, including the UvA, to nominate a student-led project that contributes to one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

Why the U21 RISE Awards?

• The Awards give you access to a global network of supporters. They can connect you with a network of experts, aiming to accelerate the scale and impact of the project you have conceived, created and led.
• You and your team have a chance to win one of three prizes worth more than €2,000.

Conditions

To be eligible, you and your project need to meet all of the following requirements:

• Your project is a voluntary, social enterprise or environmental project that you would like to scale up, develop and build
• You are a current student or recent graduate (2 years or less), who started the project whilst studying at the UvA
• You have started to implement your project in some way (it cannot be just an idea), but it can still be at the very early stages of development
• Your project must directly address at least one of the United Nations Sustainable Development GoalsExternal link
• Your project may be individual or group led (in case of a very big group, a leadership group of 7 students should be identified as the main entrants)
• Your project may also involve students from other U21 member universities, as cross institutional collaboration is encouraged with its own award. If you would like to connect with students at other U21 universities to collaborate on cross institution projects, register interest through the registration formExternal link.

You can find more information about which projects are eligible for submission, examples of last year’s winners, and helpful tips for your own project, on the RISE websiteExternal link.

Practical matters

Period

Expect to be busy with the programme during semester 2. The expected time investment will depend on your project and the number of people involved.

Funding

There are no costs to enter your project in the RISE Awards.

No credit-bearing programme

This programme wins you exposure, training and prize money, but you do not get ECTS for it.

How to apply

Submissions for the RISE Awards open in spring 2023. Please return to this page for instructions on how to apply.

Join the information session

There are several ways you can prepare for this experience: get well-informed, ask your last questions, and talk to others.

• Join our (online) information session on 21 March 2023 16:00-17:00 CET (link will appear in due time) to find out if a programme matches your ambitions.
• Register for workshopsExternal link hosted by the Office of International Student Affairs to get helpful tips to overcome the challenges in applying, and how to prepare.

Questions?

The Office of International Student Affairs facilitates this programme. If you have any questions, you can email us at global@uva.nlExternal link.