Y-Prize Competition

The Y-Prize Competition is a yearly competition that challenges student teams to propose innovative applications for new technologies invented by University of Pennsylvania researchers. The winning team receives $10,000, which they may use towards commercializing the Penn-owned technology on which their proposal is based.

The competition promotes intercollegiate cooperation, entrepreneurship, and collaboration among the many schools at Penn. Successful teams must possess a balance of skills in science, technology, and business.

Past Y-Prize Competitions

The competition, which started in 2012, initially focused on the field of robotics. Subsequent competitions shifted the focus and offered technologies in fields like biomedical engineering and nanotechnology.

Read more about previous competitions and the winning ideas below.