Beat the Heat: Leveraging Scientific and Technological Solutions to Protect Vulnerable Populations

A growing and aging world population and the increasing strain on nature’s ecosystems are among the major challenges facing humanity. As one of the world’s leading companies in the fields of health and nutrition, we are able to play a key role in devising solutions to tackle these challenges – and thus want to join forces with you and your innovative solutions!

Guided by our purpose “Science for a better life”, we deliver breakthrough innovations in healthcare and agriculture. We contribute to a world in which diseases are not only treated but effectively prevented or cured, in which people can take better care of their own health needs, and in which enough agriculture products are produced while conserving our planet’s natural resources. That’s because at Bayer, growth and sustainability go hand in hand. In short, we are working to make our vision of “Health for all, hunger for none” a reality. Our strategy operationalizes our vision, as we look to achieve long-term profitable business growth and make a positive contribution to society and the environment.

#1 Register
First of all, you have to register on our platform. You can find a tutorial in the question "How to create an account on our platform and how to set it up?".

#2 Select the challenge 

The HeahlthTech program consists of various challenges. Scroll up, look over the challenges and choose the one you are interested in, by clicking on ‘more information’. You will find the complete challenge briefing. Read it thoroughly.

#3 Select options of participation 

There are different options as to how you can participate in our challenges: You can create a new team for the challenge, join an existing team or participate alone (for further information: Look at the next question).

#4 Submit your idea 

Develop or apply your ideas and approaches and submit them via our platform's challenge workspace before the given deadline has passed. Keep in mind that you have to submit the submission template in order to participate in the challenge.

The desired goal is to jointly design an approach that can be launched by Bayer. If the Proof-of-Concept is successfully developed, there is the opportunity for a joint pilot project or different forms of cooperation depending on the team and the solution, in addition to the prize money.

Participation is therefore open to startups, companies, students, or researchers.

Check out our tutorial: Get started! 

Check out our tutorial: Join a Challenge!

For the submission, it is sufficient to describe your idea or approach in the submission template and upload it via our platform. It doesn't have to be a fully developed concept with a concrete implementation strategy. A visualization of your approach ( e.g. a sketch, visual drafts or prototype) is beneficial – it should be as well developed as possible but appropriate to the time you have. Remember, there will be an elaboration phase for the finalists of this challenge, in which you will develop your submitted idea/approach.

Your participation is not binding until you submit the Submission Template, and the qualification phase ends. You can always withdraw your submission before the deadline. Once you have uploaded your submission and you want to take part, please consider the timeline and be aware that you should be able to participate in every further step.

After the end of the deadline (August 27), the submissions will be reviewed by the challenge provider. The final teams of every challenge will be selected and invited to participate in the digital Innovation Bootcamp of the HealthTech program. We will inform you via mail. Check the timeline.

Every participant will always be able to use his or her own submissions to the full extent. Concerning the planned joint publication of all solutions, the final teams will only grant us the necessary rights so that we can publish the solution under a Creative Common License (non-commercial). In addition, all final teams agree to enter into discussions with the respective Challenge submitter within three months of the programs completion regarding possible further use of the solution. During this period, the final teams also agree not to enter into discussions with third parties regarding further use of the solutions. All details can be found in the conditions of participation.

Both parties (challenge provider and finalists) are also entitled to jointly agree on deviating and individual provisions with regard to confidentiality agreements or IP rights during the elaboration phase.