{"id":4510,"date":"2026-02-11T20:57:35","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T20:57:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/?p=4510"},"modified":"2026-02-12T07:20:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T07:20:49","slug":"wilkes-climate-innovation-prize-2026-250000-grand-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/?p=4510","title":{"rendered":"Wilkes Climate Innovation Prize 2026 ($250,000 grand prize)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><div id=\"tdi_1\" class=\"tdc-row\"><div class=\"vc_row tdi_2  wpb_row td-pb-row\" >\n<style scoped>\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n.tdi_2,\r\n                .tdi_2 .tdc-columns{\r\n                    min-height: 0;\r\n                }\n<\/style><div class=\"vc_column tdi_4  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span12\">\n<style scoped>\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n.tdi_4{\r\n                    vertical-align: baseline;\r\n                }\n<\/style><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\" >[vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article id=\"post-172007\">\n<div>\n<p><strong>Deadline: February 28, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Applications are open for the Wilkes Climate Innovation Prize 2026. The Wilkes Climate Innovation Prize seeks bold, high-potential solutions that address significant challenges affecting the climate\/energy\/economy ecosystem and are positioned to make measurable progress toward real-world use.<\/p>\n<p>The Prize is designed to support solutions at a stage where uncertainty remains high, conventional funding or adoption pathways are limited, and targeted support can plausibly influence outcomes. Solutions may be technological, policy-driven, operational, financial, or hybrid.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Financial Support\n<ul>\n<li>One Grand Prize award of $250,000 USD in non-dilutive funding to support validation, pilots, or readiness for scale<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Visibility &amp; Recognition\n<ul>\n<li>Recognition at the Wilkes Climate Summit and associated events<\/li>\n<li>Inclusion in Wilkes Center communications and press outreach<\/li>\n<li>Institutional credibility associated with a leading research university<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Targeted Support &amp; Connection\n<ul>\n<li>Curated introductions to potential funders, partners, and advisors<\/li>\n<li>Opportunities to participate in convenings, roundtables, or networking events associated with the Prize<\/li>\n<li>Participation in the Wilkes Prize alumni community<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Eligibility<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Applicants may be for-profit or nonprofit organizations, academic teams, public-sector innovators, or mission-driven collaborations from anywhere in the world.<\/li>\n<li>You should consider applying if:\n<ul>\n<li>You are working on a solution with a clear real-world application, not only a theoretical concept<\/li>\n<li>Your solution addresses a material climate-system challenge, not a marginal improvement<\/li>\n<li>You can articulate what needs to happen next and what currently stands in the way<\/li>\n<li>Support at this stage could meaningfully change your trajectory<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Selection Criteria<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Applications are evaluated by independent judges using criteria that include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Climate-system impact and relevance<\/li>\n<li>Plausibility and clarity of your execution path<\/li>\n<li>Differentiation, quality of insight and clear co-benefits<\/li>\n<li>Team expertise and organizational capability<\/li>\n<li>Catalytic fit with the Wilkes Climate Innovation Prize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Application<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/wilkescenter.utah.edu\/prize\/2026-climate-innovation-prize\/prize-application\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here to apply<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For more information, visit <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/wilkescenter.utah.edu\/prize\/2026-climate-innovation-prize\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wilkes Climate Innovation Prize<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text]<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_column_text css=\"\"] Deadline: February 28, 2026 Applications are open for the Wilkes Climate Innovation Prize 2026. The Wilkes Climate Innovation Prize seeks bold, high-potential solutions that address significant challenges affecting the climate\/energy\/economy ecosystem and are positioned to make measurable progress toward real-world use. The Prize is designed to support solutions at a stage where uncertainty [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow1K2_DA:productID":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-awards"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4510"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4521,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4510\/revisions\/4521"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}