Young Entrepreneur Prize
The objective of the competition, submitted to students, is to award the best entrepreneurial project in connection with France or Switzerland, whatever the field of specialization: service, product, trademark. It will therefore be necessary to show a capacity for imagination and creativity, and an audacity to present innovative ideas. The French External Trade Advisers in Switzerland wish to discover and promote these young talents, as well as to share their experience with them.
Organisation of the competition
The general organisation of the competition is co-ordinated by the French External Trade Advisers Committee. Schools selected by the French External Trade Advisers Committee, which are representative of the sectoral and geographic category of Swiss industry, are involved in this organisation:
- Hochschule of Saint Gallen - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) or any other agreed school from Zurich
- Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne
- Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne
- Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI) in Lugano
- Scuola Universitaria Professionale della Svizzera Italiana (SUPSI) in Manno
Each school must develop a minimum of three projects and each one of them will select the winner from among its own students. A grand jury will then choose the award winner who will receive the Young Entrepreneur Prize. The language of correspondence is one of the Swiss national language but the projects can be presented in one of the following national languages: French, German or English.
Registration conditions
The term “student” means a physical person, man or woman. He/she must be a student registered at one of the above-mentioned schools for the year during which the prize will be awarded. The nationality is not important. A certificate from the school should be included in the registration form. Participation in the competition can be on an individual basis or as part of a team. Each team will be represented by a maximum of four people who must be registered at the same establishment. A participant, whether competing on an individual basis or as part of a team, may only present one single project. Candidates must read the general regulations before signing the registration form, which should be sent to the person in charge of the competition at their school. Submission of a registration form by a candidate implies his/her unconditional acceptance of the clauses and conditions contained in the regulations governing the competition and the decisions of the juries.
Participation of schools and companies
Each school selected by the French External Trade Advisers, and having accepted to take part in the competition, must appoint a coordinator to serve as the contact person for the Advisers at the school. In turn, the French External Trade Advisers will designate one of their members for each of the schools selected to serve as the contact person for the school.
In October, the French External Trade Advisers will organize an information meeting at the school, which students may attend if they wish. During this session, one of the Advisers will present and explain the competition, in the company of the head of the school. Each student will be expected to describe the project and marketing parameters, situate it in its competitive environment, estimate its potential, calculate the investment and justify all the components of the project. Each participant will have to present to the school his/her idea of how to “develop a French or Swiss product”.
The competition organizers have the right to refuse any idea they do not consider in keeping with the competition, without having to give a reason for their decision. If a student participating in the competition wishes to be put in touch with a French or Swiss company, the French External Trade Advisers will try, as far as it is possible, and with the help of the school, to forge ties between the students and companies. The latter will receive the competitors to assist them in their projects. The school and its teaching staff are free to provide assistance to the students carrying out a project.
Selection of school winner
This selection will take place at each school in the presence of at least one of the French External Trade Advisors. Each participating school will select, internally, the project to be presented to the Grand jury. To choose the winner of the Young Entrepreneur Prize from among the school winners (one per school), the French External Trade Advisers will appoint a grand jury that will include, among others, a representative of each school and a majority of French External Trade Advisers. The president of this Grand Jury will be the current president of the French External Trade Advisers, with a casting vote in the event of two equal candidates.
Prizes
The Young Entrepreneur Prize will not be attributed systematically. It must be awarded for an exceptional project. The winner will receive:
- Support for its development and for 12 months by one or more C.C.E.F. members with a value around 10'000 CHF
- A reward in cash of 10’000 CHF. The other laureates in the finals will each receive 1’000 CHF.
Except in the event of force majeure, the Young Entrepreneur and the school winners must attend the prize giving ceremony. The name of the winner and the prize giving ceremony will be announced during the second half of June. The French External Trade Advisers reserve the right to announce this event. A photo and curriculum vitae may be requested from the Young Entrepreneur and the other winners. The winners undertake to testimony during the presentation of the award of the following year.
Property rights and communications
The awarded projects (Young Entrepreneur and/or school winners) remain the full property of their authors. If they are called upon to collaborate with one or several companies they must first undertake formally, at the risk of their projects being declared null and void, to define the ownership of their projects with the company(s) with which they intend to collaborate. After deliberation by the school juries of the schools and the subsequent grand jury, the projects will be returned to their authors.
All candidates in the competition will have to take the necessary measures to protect their projects before the closing date for the submission of their work at the schools. The French External Trade Advisers decline all responsibility in the event of damage resulting from negligence on the part of the candidates regarding the protection of their work.
The French External Trade Advisers are authorized to report on the award winning projects, as well as on the identity of their authors, by any communication means of their choice, including press articles, brochures and exhibitions at public events of their choice, without any limits in time. This authorization is valid provided the name of the author (or authors) is mentioned. The prize winner will be permitted to add the words “Winner 2016” of the Young Entrepreneur Prize on documents relating to the prizes. In the same spirit, the school winners will be permitted to include the words “School Winner 2016”.
Responsibilities of the French External Trade Advisers and the organizers
The French External Trade Advisers reserve the right to shorten, extend, postpone, modify or cancel the competition for any reason whatsoever. They undertake to inform the candidates, but the French External Trade Advisers will in no way be responsible for any consequences such action may have. Whatever the objections raised, the French External Trade Advisers, the participating schools, the members of the juries and grand jury, and the participating companies will not, under any circumstances, accept responsibility vis-à-vis any physical or moral person. The interpretation of these regulations comes under the exclusive competence of the French External Trade Advisers.
- December 2017 : Launch of the competition in the six schools
- 9 March 2018 : Closing of registrations at the schools which will transmit the registration forms to the French External Trade Advisers
- 6 April 2018 : Deadline for submission of the projects in the schools
- 7 April – 25 May 2018 : Deliberation by the juries in the schools to select their winner
- 5 June 2018 : Deliberation by the grand jury to select the Young Entrepreneur out of the four projects presented by the school winners Official award of the prizes
For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
https://vpi.epfl.ch/PJE_en?utm_source=ARMACAD.info&utm_medium=ARMACAD.info