Call for Nominations: WISE Prize for Education

Deadline Date: March 15, 2024

 Donor Name: Qatar Foundation

 Grant Size: $100,000 to $500,000

WISE is launching the next generation of the WISE Prize as one sole initiative, identifying a group of finalists to partake in this competition.

WISE will identify and provide support through capacity building and mentorship to organizations tackling new challenges ahead.

This iteration of the WISE Prize will work with the chosen finalists over the span of one year to develop solutions that addresses one of the following key education challenges:

• Improving the teaching of Arabic language
  • Develop a solution to improve the effectiveness of teaching, acquisition and use of the Arabic language.
• Accelerating foundational literacies
  • Create a personalized learning tool to accelerate basic literacy and numeracy skills, particularly in under-resourced areas.
• Addressing challenges in A.I.
  • Design a tech-based intervention to equip youth with skills to navigate challenges of increasing presence in an A.I.-driven market and society, such as biases and disinformation.

Funding Information

• Each finalist will receive US$100,000 – 150,000 and will benefit from tailored support and guidance in the lead-up to the WISE12 Summit in 2025, when the winning solution will be revealed. The WISE Prize for Education, with a prize of USD1 million, is a conditional grant in which WISE will obtain naming rights over the winning solutions.

Eligibility Criteria

• Any type of legally registered organization including colleges, universities, academic networks, schools, civil society, community organizations, governments, international agencies, private-sector companies and non-profit entities working in the field of education are invited to apply. The organization should be in operation for at least 12 months with established programs or products.
• Representation from any education sector including pre-primary, primary, secondary, tertiary, EdTech, vocational training, higher education, special needs education, informal learning, lifelong learning and more, are welcome to apply.
• Applications should be for original works and projects, and should be submitted by a representative working within the project. All applicants should therefore guarantee that their organization, or they themselves, originate the project, and should not hold WISE liable for any action or claim from a third party with respect to the project submitted.
• Eligible Submissions
  • Applicants should have evidence of the transformative impact on individuals, communities and society in education already achieved from previous ventures, with:
    • A strong record of proven success
    • Minimum 2 years in operation  
    • More than one source of funding
    • At least one dedicated full-time team member (or full-time equivalent) to drive the solution development
    • A clear plan indicating the project’s objectives and development in response to the education challenge it will address
    • A scalable solution and ability to replicate in other contexts and regions
• Applications
  • Applications should be for original works and projects, and should be submitted by a representative that will be assigned to work on the solution development. All applicants should therefore guarantee that their organization, or they themselves, originated the project, and should not hold WISE liable for any action or claim from a third party with respect to the project submitted.
• Previous Applicants
  • Anyone who has submitted a previous application to any previous programs run by WISE can submit a new application for other works.
• Previous Winners
  • Individuals or organizations that are previous recipients of the WISE Awards/WISE Prize are eligible to apply for the WISE Prize for Education as long as the proposed solution is a new project. The solution should not be under the same project that was previously recognized by WISE.
• Multiple Applications
  • Only one application can be submitted for a single educational activity or project.
  • Individuals may only submit a single application. Other individuals working for the same organization are allowed to submit different applications for different educational activities.

For more information, visit Qatar Foundation.