Celebrate 10 years of Acara and meet with the 2020 student teams to hear how they would put up to $5,000 in fellowship funding to good use!

The Acara Challenge is a competition for undergraduate and graduate students from all UMN campuses that are seeking money to pilot their ideas for solutions that address social and environmental challenges. Students receive intensive training and mentoring to learn how to best pitch their ideas at the competition, then compete for up to $500 in competition prizes and $5,000 in fellowship funding. Applications are accepted from students from all majors and in all stages of project development.

The reception will include:

4:30 – 5:15 pm: Poster session
An opportunity to meet one-on-one with the Acara Challenge 2020 participants, accompanied by appetizers.

5:15 – 6:00 pm: Welcome and Acara Challenge 2020 Short Pitches
Following a brief introduction, you’ll hear 2-minute pitches from participating teams on their innovative venture solutions to local and global grand challenges. Following the pitches, the audience will vote on the recipients of crowd-favorite awards.

6:00 – 6:30 pm: Award Ceremony & Wrap Up
Announcement of the winners of the 2020 Acara Challenge.

Check back early next spring for the finalist line-up and RSVP!