Meet the students competing to change the world

As people around the planet grapple with issues like climate change, resource depletion, and pollution, a new initiative led by the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability is inviting college and university students to apply their passion, courage, and creativity to develop sustainability solutions. 

The inaugural Global Sustainability Challenge, a collaboration with universities including Technical University of Munich, IIT Bombay, The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Zhejiang University, Imperial College London, and several nonprofits, has mobilized thousands of students across 91 countries to develop pathways to clean energy and climate resilience for their communities. 

The challenge launched in September 2025, open to undergraduate, graduate, and PhD students of any discipline. While some groups signed up with intentions to develop existing concepts into real-world projects, others joined the challenge as individuals and connected with like-minded peers through the challenge website. The result: multidisciplinary teams with shared passions, complementary skillsets, and a range of perspectives many couldn’t have imagined finding.

“This project is something I’ve been waiting for,” said Adeboye Oluwagbemiga, a student at Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, in Nigeria. “I’m the type of person that has been putting effort into learning, and this is a time I can actually put what I’ve learned into action.”

This year’s challenge focuses on advancing clean, accessible energy systems and building community capacity to withstand climate impacts. About 200 teams have progressed to regional semifinals hosted in China, India, Germany, and the United States.

The top teams will refine their prototypes with expert mentors and compete to bring their solutions to scale at the Global Finale at Technical University of Munich in April. Winners receive cash prizes and an invitation to participate in a new program from Stanford Ecopreneurship, which helps students take sustainability solutions to scale.

“Within a few months of the launch, more than 3,000 students signed up for the challenge,” said Parul Gupta, managing director of mobilization at the Doerr School of Sustainability. “It’s a testament to the incredible potential that emerges when passion meets interdisciplinary teamwork and a reminder that true innovation thrives in collaboration.”

A sailboat that harvests wind energy, reliable vending structures in Nairobi, disaster warning systems for remote communities, and clean energy for the Global South are just a few examples of the solutions the global teams are pursuing. For many of the participants, the experience has inspired confidence and motivation, improved communication skills, and expanded approaches to incorporate scalable, systems-level thinking. 

“Every step of the way, we were asking ourselves, ‘Is the solution going to help people?’” said Daniella Fenster, an undergraduate whose Stanford University team has designed a dual-phase fuel cell that generates energy in the aftermath of a flood. “We weren’t just going down the path of pushing our idea through, no matter what.”