Watch the 2026 Information Session below:

THE CHALLENGE

The University of Newcastle’s Grand Challenge is an annual initiative aimed at encouraging multi-disciplinary teams to propose and develop potential solutions to complex challenges. The most compelling submissions will share in $30,000 in funds to advance their idea.

This year, the Grand Challenge will focus on a complex problem with both local and global significance – the concept of circular economy: minimising waste and maximising resource efficiency.

Proposals are required to provide a response to the following challenge statement:

How might we assist key stakeholders, such as suppliers, partners and consumers, transition to circular economy practices to minimise waste and maximise resource efficiency and to achieve net zero goals?

Share in over $30,000 of funding to the winners!

WHY CIRCULAR ECONOMY?

A Circular Economy moves away from the traditional "take-make-dispose" model, instead emphasising the continuous use of resources by designing products for reuse, repair, refurbishment, and recycling. It seeks to reduce waste, lower carbon emissions, and maximise resource efficiency, creating closed-loop systems that extend the life of products and materials.

By helping stakeholders, such as suppliers, partners and consumers transition to circular economy practices, we aim to enhance transparency, accountability and ultimately drive emissions reductions across the economy.

It’s about holding companies accountable for their environmental performance.  

WHAT IS A GRAND CHALLENGE?

We are bringing together multidisciplinary minds to explore accessible solutions to ultimately improve emissions reporting for our community.

The Grand Challenge is a series of events designed to build a robust solution to a specific problem. In this challenge, the University of Newcastle is seeking new and innovative solutions that empower organisations to transition to circular economy practices to minimize waste and maximize resource efficiency.

During the Grand Challenge, you have the opportunity to hear from industry experts about the problem of emissions reporting and then form interdisciplinary teams with other participants. Your team will research more into the problem and will begin to develop your idea or solution with support at our optional events. We have innovation mentors available to support your submission throughout.

Successful teams will receive up to $10,000 in funding to develop and test prototypes within a 6-month period.

The judges will outline your solutions’ merits according to the marking criteria and award the funding on the Awards Night.

WANT TO LEARN MORE?