Energy Now! FAQ

The most innovative, dedicated and creative teams will have the opportunity to present their work during the Energy Week @ ETH 2023 (4-8 December). If you collaborate well with our industry partners during the challenge, you may also be able to continue your work and implement your solution after the initiative.

Overall, the challenge experience can be highly valuable for both students and our industry partners: For you, it may be your first in-depth exposure to the real-world poblems faced by industry. For our partners, you might help them think outside of the box!

Please note that no ECTs will be awarded for participation in the challenge.

This year, we have prepared challenges together with our industry partners prior to the Kick-Off event. Industry partners will be providing mentors for each challenge. At the Kick-Off, you will have the opportunity to discuss proposed challenges in depth with industry partners and find a mentor. Thus, we hope to provide you with more guidance as compared to the freer format of last year's challenge.

We recommend a team size of roughly 3-5 students. Furthermore, we encourage interdisciplinary teams as the challenges require diverse skillsets ranging from coding and prototype building to communication, policy making and more.

Yes, you can first register as an individual. At the Kickoff event (2 October) you will have the opportunity to meet all other interested students and find a team. If you do not find a team at the Kickoff, your participation as an individual may be considered. Please contact us in this case.  

Yes, all members of a team should register with their contact information, referencing the same team name in each of their applications.

Yes, students need to register using the registration form. Registration is still possible after the kick-off event (2 October 2023). The deadline for registration is Thursday, 5 October 2023. If you already have a team, please include your team name in the registration process.

The last day for registration is Thursday, 5 October, i.e. three days after the kickoff event on Monday, 2 October. This is intended to allow for last-minute registrations. However, we encourage you to register earlier to facilitate our planning process.

People from outside of ETH Zurich may also participate as members of a team. However, at least one member of a team must be an employee or student of ETH Zurich.

The events will be held on the ETH Zentrum Campus. More information about the process and the planned events are available from the Energy Now! main page.

We highly recommend attending the Kickoff on 2 October at 5pm in the Dozentenfoyer (ETH Zentrum, HG). This will be your first chance to meet our industry partners and discuss in-depth their proposed challenges.

While the Kickoff (2 October) and Feedback Workshop (21 November) offer opportunities for networking with industry partners and receiving their advice on how to proceed with your solutions, the extra workshops (19 October and 23 November) are for students only.

They are simply an opportunity for team members to meet in person in designated rooms we have reserved for you. We thus hope to support students in finding space and time to work on their solutions with their whole team.  

At the final event, which takes place during the Energy Week @ ETH 2023 (4-8 December 2023), shortlisted teams will present their solutions to various energy experts and guests. We will review final submission after the submission deadline on November 23. Shortlisted teams will be announced on Tuesday, November 28. Further information on the final event will be announced in early November.

In special cases, students may be allowed to work on their own challenges. However, we strongly recommend considering a challenge proposed by industry partners in order to receive their mentorship.

The challenges are designed to require between 5 and 10 hours of work per week. The amount of time allocated to the project also depends on the team's size and goals.  

The mentor's primary goal is to help your team deeply understand their challenge from the industry point of view. This will be achieved through active participation of mentors in the Kickoff (2 October) and Feedback Workshop (21 November). Mentors will also be available for interim guidance via email. Further, mentors may arrange for students to visit their respective company onsite to further deepen students' exposure to the real-world industry environment.

Surprise us! :)

Submissions are due by midnight (CET) on Thursday, November 23.

We have reserved rooms on campus for you for the entire afternoon of November 23, such that you can work collaboratively on your final submission - be it a pitch video, exhibition, a set of policy measures, a physical prototype or any other suitable format.

The feasibility of the solutions will be the primary focus of Energy Now! 2.0, as it aims to achieve concrete impact. Feasibility encompasses various aspects, including the scalability of technological development, the necessary supportive policy framework, and the economic viability of the solution. If the proposed solutions involve a set of policy measures, they should be presented along with the solution and accompanied by an assessment.