Rules, terms and conditions for the Innovation Challenge

The Innovation Challenge is open to currently enrolled AUT students at the time of submission.

Teams may be any size. Interdisciplinary collaboration is encouraged, but not mandatory. Each team must designate a team leader for communication purposes.

Specific category rules

Participants are required to submit a completed online application form, including a detailed problem statement and proposed solution.

Participants or teams which are selected to progress to the final pitch event will be required to prepare a 10-minute pitch, and attend the finals event. They will also be encouraged to attend the development workshops.

Judges' decisions are final.

Initiators

Participants must submit original ideas and concepts that have not been previously implemented or commercially launched. Plagiarism or infringement of intellectual property is strictly prohibited. All submissions will be subjected to a plagiarism check.

Activators

Participants must submit original ideas generated from their own research that have not previously been commercially launched. Plagiarism or infringement of intellectual property is strictly prohibited. All submissions will be subjected to a plagiarism check.

Accelerators

Participants must submit an outline of a business for which they hold a majority operating ownership interest, and for which they have permission from any other owners to enter the competition. Plagiarism or infringement of intellectual property is strictly prohibited. All submissions will be subjected to a plagiarism check.

Terms and conditions

The Innovation Challenge is open to individual entrants or team entries, encouraging collaboration across faculties/departments first and foremost, and the venture needs to be led by an AUT student with 50% or more of the team from AUT. These team members must have active roles within the team.

Any addition or withdrawal of team members must be notified in writing to the programme organisers. This notice must be signed by all original and subsequently added team members.

Winning entries from previous AUT competitions cannot be resubmitted to the current competition.

The information you disclose in your entry and the inherent Intellectual Property (IP) should belong to you or your team and should be the product of your own work.

Ensure you have the rights to disclose the intellectual property or confidential information of another party before you disclose it.

The project can be from any discipline or commercial domain.

By accepting these terms, the entrant agrees that AUT may use the entrant's name and photos in connection with the publication and promotion of the Innovation Challenge and AUT. The entrant shall cooperate with all reasonable requests to promote the Innovation Challenge. No financial compensation will be paid to the entrant for cooperation in promotional activities.

The Innovation Challenge organising committee reserves the right to reject and remove any inappropriate entries.

The Innovation Challenge organising committee is not liable for any damages as a result of these actions.

AUT is not liable for any intellectual property infringement that arises from entries.

No entrant can use the AUT brands for marketing, advertising, public relations and endorsement or other similar purposes without prior consent.

Entries submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.

The decision of the judges will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.

The 3 winning teams will receive $5000 to the account details from the finalists no later than three months from the date of the award.

It is the finalists' responsibility for their own tax obligations on the receipt of grant consideration.

The grants from the Innovation Challenge may be spent at the winners’ discretion.

AUT reserves the right to vary these terms and conditions.

AUT students who are currently receiving support from AUT Ventures will be prohibited from entry.