About the Earthshot Prize
The search for the first winners of The Earthshot Prize has begun and the University of Oxford has been invited to be an Official Nominator for the Prize!
Launched in 2020 and with the first winners announced in October 2021, The Earthshot Prize is the most prestigious global environment prize in history, aiming to find new solutions to the world’s biggest environmental problems. For more information on last year’s winners, click here.
As an Official Nominator, Oxford University is one of a group of organisations from across the world, invited to submit nominations across all five Earthshot categories, selected for our ability to identify the most impactful solutions.
The Earthshot Prize will consider solutions which make tangible progress towards one of the five Earthshots. They should be beyond idea stage, have tested their solution in-field or with target audiences, and are at a ‘tipping point’ for scaling their impact within the next five years.
The five Earthshots are:
You can find out more about the Prize, our role as an Official Nominator, and the five-stage process to selecting winners at www.earthshotprize.org.
Suggest solutions for Oxford to nominate
We want to hear your ideas and suggestions for solutions that Oxford University should nominate for the Earthshot Prize!
The next Earthshot Prize winners could include you, someone in your network, or something you stumbled across recently. If you have any such suggestions for inspiring, inclusive and impactful, solutions that we, as an organisation, should nominate, please let us know by filling out the form below. We anticipate nominating at least one solution for each of the five prizes – this form will gather ideas to help us identify which.
The form has three sections:
- Your personal details if you’re happy to be contacted about your suggested solution
- Key information about the solution you are suggesting for consideration
- Further details about the solution you are suggesting for consideration
Panel
We have convened an experienced interdepartmental panel with expertise across each of the five Earthshot categories that will carefully consider each suggestion as we search for and select the solutions that we Oxford University will nominate for the Prize in 2022. The panel is comprised of 10-15 members, ranging from professors and directors to students, drawn from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds, including representation including the Environmental Change Institute, Oxford Martin School, Oxford University Innovation, and more.
Suggestion Timeline
The form opened on January 4th 2022, and will close February 14th 2022.
The panel will meet in the second half of January, and the second half of February to carefully consider all suggestions.
We recommend completing the form as soon as possible; those that are submitted early in January will be considered in the first panel meeting, which will provide more time for the panel to follow up with potential nominees before the Earthshot Prize’s internal deadline.
FAQ
How can I apply for the Earthshot Prize?
It is not possible to apply for the Earthshot prize, and this form is not an application. Potential Earthshot Prize winners are nominated by designated Official Nominators such as Oxford University – as a part of this process we (Oxford University) are consulting our community to help gather the best and most diverse set of ideas for potential solutions that we should nominate for the Earthshot prize. To suggest such a solution, please complete the form above. We will then review all your suggestions and officially select and make our nominations (this process is separate from the form above). Once we (Oxford University) have officially nominated solutions they will be further screened and assessed in multiple rounds by the Earthshot Prize itself. For more information, please click here.
Can I contact the panel?
If you have an idea you’d like to suggest that Oxford nominate, please fill out the form. To protect the fairness and transparency of our internal process, we are only accepting suggestions via the form. If we require further information to aid our decision making, or official nomination, we will get in contact with the nominee directly.
How will I know if Oxford University chooses to nominate my idea for the Earthshot Prize?
While we will carefully review each submission, we are not able to nominate every suggestion. Due to number of suggestions, please understand that you should not expect to hear back from us unless we require further information from you. If we choose to nominate the a solution you suggested, we contact you and/or the nominee .
What happens after Oxford University nominates a solution?
After nominations are submitted, they are screened as part of a rigorous assessment process culminating in selection of five winners by the Earthshot Prize Council. Finalists and winners are given a platform to amplify their work, as well as tailored support from The Earthshot Prize and their network of NGOs, businesses, governments, funders and expert mentors. The five winners also receive the Earthshot Prize award and a one-million-pound grant to scale their impact.
Is there any benefit to suggesting a solution if we don’t win?
Last year our nominations did not win the Earhtshot Prize, however were delighted to see that two of Oxford’s nominations were chosen to be featured in the BBC Earthshot TV series!
This year, changes to the rules in the Earthshot Prize process means that we are aiming to feature a selection of the best ideas that we receive later this year – stay tuned for more information!
