FAQ
We advise the teams to start drafting their detailed proposal once they submit the summary proposal. The decision for the summary proposal will be out 1 month after the submission deadline so the teams must start working on their concept design details proposal once the decision is out. Teams can fine the full guideline on what is expected in the details proposal in the competition guideline document.
There is no limit on the number of team members.
Globally there are 15 906 desalination plants and over 2 240 of these desalination plants are in the Arabian Peninsula. But the process of desalination produces a by-product of concentrated salt-water called Brine and about 486 of the plants in the gulf region account for over 14 million m3/day of brine and chemical by-products being discharge into the Arabian Gulf. If not disposed of properly, brine can negatively affect our environment and marine life. This competition will help find alternatives to brine discharge by developing commercially viable construction material from brine.
The competition will be held in three rounds over 36 months. After each round, only the top teams will move to the next round. The exact timeline is provided on the challenge page.
A total of AED 3.4 million in prize purses will be awarded as follows:
- In Round 2, a AED 25K milestone award will be used to award up to 5 Teams. In Round 3, a AED 250K milestone award will be used to award up to 3 Teams
In Round 4, a AED 2.5 million Grand Prize purse will be awarded to one winner.
Centurium Prize does not provide direct financial support to teams during or after competition, aside from the prize purses. However, Centurium Prize will support the teams by bringing competitors together through the platform, encouraging collaboration among teams, and by building an ecosystem of innovators, academics, engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs and industry partners.
Yes! Anyone can compete in a Centurium Prize competition. Teams from around the world are encouraged to enter and compete for the prize, minding the condition that international applicants must collaborate with UAE based universities or research institutions. Also, at least 40% of the work (including 40% of the research and development work) should be carried out in connection with the contestant in the UAE using students, employees and researchers of any UAE university or other UAE research institute with significant participation of Emirati nationals.
Register through researcher.ae and then apply for the ReThink Brine Competition by either creating a new team or by joining an existing team that is accepting new members. Teams are always seeking partners, supporters and resources to help them compete and win the prize, so we encourage you to reach out to these teams.
Yes! If you are interested in competing, please create a user on researcher.ae. Once you register, create a team and post an announcement mentioning the skills you are seeking from new team members. New applicants on researcher.ae can view your posting and send a request to join your team where you will be able to review their application and skills.
Many people in the open source community support the prize goals without competing. If you are in a similar field or have any resources to share, please contact us to see how you can serve as a resource to competing teams. For anyone who wants to broaden the impact of this prize, please share and help us spread the word to find the best innovators who can compete in this challenge.