Welcome to the 2024 Geothermal Collegiate Competition (GCC)! Stay up to date on competition announcements and details by clicking the "follow" button at the top right of the page.
- Through the Geothermal Collegiate Competition, the U.S. Department of Energy Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) encourages students to develop innovative solutions for geothermal energy application challenges and build career skills for the clean energy workforce.
- 2024 GCC prize amounts:
- 1st place (for each track): $10,000
- 2nd place (for each track): $6,000
- 3rd place (for each track): $2,000
- Bonus awards and honorable mentions will also be up for grabs!
Registration will open in August 2024 and close on October 7, 2024.
Teams must have at least three undergraduate and/or graduate members (can be from multiple schools) and students of any discipline can participate. Final competition deliverables will be due in December 2024.
There are two competition tracks: Technical and Policy.
- Technical Track teams will perform a resource assessment and design a geothermal heating and cooling system for a community of their choosing. The design can also include other renewable energy technologies and/or storage.
- Policy Track teams will present a high-level idea for a geothermal heating and cooling system in a community or campus, focused on an analysis of the regulatory environment, economic assessment, and workforce development analysis.
Additional details will be available when the rules are released in July 2024.
The official rules will be released in July 2024.
Specifics to note:
- This competition is open for undergraduate and/or graduate students pursuing any major or minor.
- The Geothermal Collegiate Competition invites participation by teams of at least three students enrolled in accredited U.S.-based collegiate institutions or U.S. citizens enrolled at non-U.S. based collegiate institutions. In this case, “collegiate institution” refers to any school of post-secondary or higher education, including but not limited to community colleges, technical colleges, and traditional four-year and graduate-level universities. See “Who Can Enter” in the Geothermal Collegiate Competition Rules when they are released in July 2024 for more information on eligibility.
- There is no cost to register or participate.
- Additional details are available on the Geothermal Collegiate Competition webpage.
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