GENIUS Business raises awareness of environmental values in the business world, from bringing green products and services to market to developing a social responsibility plan for any business aiming to have a positive relationship to the society and the environment in which it operates.
BUSINESS | Entrepreneurship
Students may offer a new product or technology to decrease human impact on the environment, or they can offer improvements to existing products or technologies to make them greener or more sustainable. This involves a combination of science, engineering and business sense. Participants must offer the product, technology, or enhancement along with a plan to bring this product or technology to market. The business plan must include an analysis of the existing market, analyzing potential buyers, suppliers, current competition, the culture of the market regarding of product, potential future competitors, and potential substitute technologies. It should then describe the product, its target market, expected price, promotional plans, and how it will be delivered to the customer. Finally, the business plan should include staffing and facilities plans, as well as ultimate profit goals.
BUSINESS | Social Responsibility
Social Responsibility plan should offer environmental solutions for existing businesses and industries, with the aim of a reduction in environmental impact. Participants must offer a 10-minute Powerpoint/Prezi (or similar) presentation promoting their business plan to make a change within their target business or industry. The business plan should include an analysis of the current environmental impact of the business/industry, a description of the proposed changes, and an analysis of the impact of these changes on the environment. The plan should then explore the financial cost of implementation and the impact of implementation on the company's position in the market (including the impact of any change in price, change in the customer experience of the product, obstacles to delivery, etc.). Participants should also examine potential competition from other sustainability models, and make the case for their own plan as the best solution.
Participants submit their project either directly to Genius Olympiad or through an affiliated fair. Finalists are chosen to display their project at the 5-day Genius Olympiad at the University of Rochester in June. All participants will receive a GENIUS Participant Certificate for their ambition and participation. Four tiers of awards and gifts will be given according to the student’s total score within their category:
- Top Grand Gold Award: To the top one project in each category: A Grand Certificate, a gold medal, and an award will be given.
- Gold Medal: To top 10 % of the participants: A Gold Certificate and a gold medal.
- Silver Medal: To top 90-70% of the participants: A Silver Certificate and a silver medal.
- Bronze Medal: To top 70-50% of the participants. A Bronze Certificate and a bronze medal.
- Honorable Mention: To top 50-20% of the participants. A certificate will be given to all Honorable Mention winners.
Location(s)
- Remote
- Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York
Schedule
- Year-round
- Genius Olympiad Finals: June 12 - 16
Cost/Compensation
- $50 application fee
- $425 registration fee for finals (if selected)
- Additional fees for participant guests and chaperones
Eligibility Requirements
- The GENIUS Olympiad is open to all international and U.S. students studying in grades 9-12 (or the equivalent).
- All students under 17 years old must attend the GENIUS Olympiad with an adult supervisor (a teacher, a parent, or a guardian).
- Minimum age requirement for student participants is 13.
- Each student may present only one project. In the case of being a finalist for multiple projects, the applicant must choose which project to present.
Deadline
- March 1: Application deadline for ALL individual/school/International Fair applications.
- April 18: Application deadline for affiliated US/EU Fairs Certificate Holders.
Application or Entry Requirements
- Each GENIUS Business project can be prepared and presented by up to two students.
- Submit a business plan describing the requested information. All projects, including affiliated fair winners, must submit these items.
- The business plan must be no more than 20 pages long, including a 2-page executive summary.
- The entire application document should be in English, and all file names must be in English characters. File name should be less than 25 characters.
- If the planned market is a non-English-speaking country, the presentation may include examples of the target languages as appropriate in marketing materials, etc.
- All projects must be submitted in ONLY PDF format.
- All financing should be converted into US dollars.
- We can not share other's business plan from previous years, however, the best projects are the ones which follow a typical business plan structure. As an example, we provide the following (you may choose to use other business plan templates): Business plan template (PDF)
- By submitting an application, you give rights to GENIUS Olympiad to freely use your creative work.
Notifications of Decisions
- Finalists are announced in April
Financial Aid Details
Other Dates to Keep in Mind
Have other questions?
GENIUS Olympiad promotes a global understanding of environmental issues and the achievement of sustainability through basic science, arts, creative writing, engineering, design, and business development. In practice, GENIUS Olympiad is an international high school project competition that equips high school students around the world to cope with and elicit solutions to environmental problems. Founded and organized by Terra Science and Education, the Olympiad is now hosted by the Rochester Institute of Technology.
