Last week we shared information about the Rise Challenge, it’s a UQ program that offers lots of benefits. From scholarships and mentoring, to career development opportunities and other funding.
This week we spoke with the Manager of the UQ Ventures Discovery team, Tomas, who gave us some more information.
What sort of people should apply for the Rise Challenge?
“Any student between 15-17 should apply. It is a fantastic opportunity to be part of a global initiative that is bringing together young people from all over the world.
It is not about school grades; it is about finding young people who want to make an impact in their communities and are willing to put the effort needed to make it a reality. They look both at the type of project being developed, as well as the person who is leading it.”
How did the scholarship and program come about?
“The program was developed to support young people who have the drive to make a change in the world but struggle to find support and resources to both develop themselves and their projects. The Rise Challenge hopes to find them, wherever they are in the world, and provide them with both resources and mentoring support to make their projects a reality and nurture more positive leaders in the world.”
What makes the Rise Challenge such a good opportunity for young people?
“The greatest thing about this program, which we always stress in our activities, is that it is not about who you ARE, but rather, getting into action and solving problems in your communities.
It does not matter how well you do in school; this program is all about how much of an impact can you make. That is what we do at Ventures Discovery, we support students to grow their entrepreneurial skills by acting and solving the problems they see in their worlds. That is why Ventures Discovery is providing support sessions to help students create and develop their Rise projects.”
What skills do you expect students to gain from participating in the Challenge (even if they don’t win)?
“I think students will realise just how powerful they are. That they don’t need to wait. They already have enough skills to get out of their houses and have a positive impact in their communities. For some this will be harder than others, but as they grow in confidence, they will notice that skills like problem solving, creative thinking, communication, and self-regulation, will all start to flourish. Not because they didn’t have them before, but rather because they don’t trust themselves as agents of change.”
Who can apply?
Wondering how you could benefit from this lifelong opportunity?
You’ll just need to be aged between 15 and 17 years old (born on or between July 2, 2005 and July 1, 2008 for the 2023 applications); and passionate about working towards solving humanity’s most pressing problems.
You can be based anywhere in the world, but you’ll need to submit your complete application before 25 January 2023.
It’s FREEÂ
There’s no application fee and you won’t have to pay anything.
UQ are running information and support session to support students in their applications. Learn more about the Rise Challenge here: https://www.risefortheworld.org/
A huge thank you to Tomas Piccini for his time and help with this post.
