Student teams will compete for a total of $250,000 in prize awards and national recognition, while shaping the global future of converting algae to biofuels (e.g., sustainable marine and aviation fuels), vitamin- and protein-rich foods and animal feeds, ecological services, and industrial compounds (e.g., biopolymers). The AlgaePrize 2025–2027 competition will span 24 months and is open to teams of two or more students currently enrolled in a U.S.-based high school, community college, college, university, or graduate program.
Students may begin registering on April 1, 2025, for AlgaePrize 2025–2027. To participate, teams must complete registration by Sept. 12, 2025, by 12 p.m. ET.
The three areas of interest for the AlgaePrize include both microalgae and macroalgae. Student teams should focus their project on one of the following areas of interest:
1. Production
Cultivar enhancement
Aquaculture engineering
Husbandry and productivity
2. Downstream Processing
Harvesting, dewatering, and preprocessing
Development of biorefinery applications
3. Novel Products, Analytical Tools, or Ecosystem Services
New product development
Remote sensing and modeling
Ecosystem services
This competition will award two separate rounds of prizes:
Research Synopsis Prize: The first stage of judging will result in up to 15 student teams being selected as AlgaePrize finalists. Each finalist team will be awarded $10,000; $8,000 of the award will be paid upon notice of finalist selection and an additional $2,000 will be awarded in support of travel upon submission of the research program’s final report.
Final Awards: Finalist teams will present their research at the AlgaePrize competition event over the AlgaePrize Weekend. The five top student teams will be selected as AlgaePrize champions. Each champion team will be awarded an additional $15,000 prize. The five champion teams will then present their research to a final panel of judges. These judges will select a single grand champion and award them an additional $25,000 grand prize (The grand champion will have received a cumulative total award of $50,000, including both finalist awards and the research synopsis prize).
The five champion teams will be invited to participate in a national algal-based conference or symposium, e.g., the Algae Biomass Summit, to present their research and network with conference participants from the national and international algae community.
The Official Rules document provides a framework for research work, submissions, and judging evaluation. Please see the AlgaePrize 2025–2027 Rules.
Guidelines
Registration opens on Tuesday, April 1, 2025.
Products made from algae are the natural solution to the energy, food, feed, and economic challenges facing our world today. Algae have the power to simultaneously put fuels in our vehicles, recycle carbon dioxide, provide nutrition for animals and humans, and create jobs for millions of Americans.
Goals
Student competitors will learn about the algae industry and will go on to support the nation’s biofuel research, algal commercial enhancement, and promote industry-driven education, training, and workforce development. The AlgaePrize will assist in establishing the competitors as serious candidates for the next generation of bioeconomy positions and entrepreneurial opportunities.
Over 24 months, student competitors will:
Gain experience with innovative algal commercialization technologies
Develop real-world solutions that shape the global future of algae by producing biofuels, biofoods, biofeeds, and industrial compounds (e.g., biopolymers)
Help build the algal bioeconomy of the future and create jobs in clean energy through their innovative research
Develop collaborative and leadership skills by working on multidisciplinary student teams
Engage and network with industry professionals, national lab researchers, and academics to forge relationships and connections that aid students’ transition to the algal-based bioeconomy employment or entrepreneurial endeavors upon graduation
Compete to earn prize money and national recognition.
Qualifying teams will complete a research project and attend the AlgaePrize competition event where teams:
Present their research to panels of judges
Compare their projects to those of other teams
Tour the NREL facilities
Engage with a variety of organizations about careers related to algae technology, cultivation, and market development.
Rules
The Official Rules Document provides a framework for research work, submissions, and judging evaluation. Please see the AlgaePrize 2025–2027 Rules.
Road to Success
Registration: Students (see the Eligibility Section below) are encouraged to form student teams, consider the competition’s three algae research areas of interest (detailed above) and select one and develop an innovative and novel research project within that area. Register prior to the deadline with your team’s abstract.
Submission: During this step, complete your team’s full research synopsis, take a team photo, and submit both of these items by the deadline.
Assessment: All teams’ Research Synopses will be reviewed and scored by a panel of judges, based on the review criteria. The week following the deadline for submitting Research Synopses, a panel of judges will assess and score the synopses based on the review criteria. At the conclusion of the assessment, the panel of judges will select up to 15 finalist teams to participate in the competition.
Announcement: All teams will be notified of the selections and each winning team will be awarded $10,000 to assist with their research and travel efforts.
Social Media Postings:After selection as a finalist team, each team is requested to post a minimum of one new social media posting on either Facebook, LinkedIn, or X (formerly known as Twitter) each month from selection as a finalist team (January 2026-April 2027). Each team will forward the posting to AlgaePrize@theAlgaeFoundation.org.
Research and Updates: After selection and announcement of the winning finalist teams, the teams will have the next 15 months to complete their proposed research projects and include three five-page research updates throughout the competition. All submission deadlines can be found in the Timeline tab.
AlgaePrize Competition Weekend: The finalist teams are expected to participate in the AlgaePrize competition event over the AlgaePrize Weekend. The event will be held in-person at NREL in Golden, Colorado on April 9–11, 2027. Over the course of the AlgaePrize Weekend, the finalist teams will participate in event activities including presenting their research projects to a panel of judges. Each team is expected to send at least one student and one faculty advisor to this competition event. More information can be found in the official rulebook and will be provided prior to the AlgaePrize event.
Eligibility
The following are requirements of team members:
Teams must have a minimum of two student members enrolled in a U.S.-based educational institution (high school, accredited community college, college, university and/or graduate school).
Students must be enrolled in at least one class and must be pursuing a degree or diploma at the time a student joins a team.
Teams with students from multiple educational institutions are allowed, and multiple teams from the same educational institution are allowed. Individual students may be members of only one team.
The student team captain must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Each team must have a faculty advisor employed by a U.S.-based educational institution to provide input, guidance, and support.
Judges, competition organizers, federal employees, and national laboratory employees are not eligible to compete in the competition. Immediate family members of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), the Algae Foundation, NREL, and EERE contractual employees are not eligible to compete in the competition.
Individuals who worked at DOE (federal employees or support service contractors) within six months prior to the submission deadline of any contest are not eligible to participate in any prize contests in this program.
Student participation may be integrated into a senior project or thesis, count as elective or independent study course credit, be added to the curriculum of existing classes, treated as a seminar topic, engaged in as part of a student interest club, or be an extracurricular student activity.
High School Competitors: Student teams composed of all high school students under the age of 18 must have their faculty advisor register the team on HeroX. Each high school may support more than one team. High school students may not be on multiple teams.
_.png)
© 2024
