ELIGIBILITY:

Educational background: All applicants must hold at least a bachelor’s degree in a field related to agrifood systems, which includes but is not limited to areas such as agriculture, food science, environmental science, sustainable development or other related disciplines.

Team composition and age requirements: The competition is open to teams of at least 3 and up to 5 individuals (Entrants). All team members must be between the ages of 18 and 35 at the time of submission of their Concept Note.

FAO employees and their immediate family members (spouses, parents, children, siblings and their respective spouses, regardless of where they live) or persons living in the same households of such employees, whether related or not, are not eligible to enter the competition. WFF Youth Initiative will determine eligibility at its sole discretion. Partners or relatives of partner staff of the institutions involved in the launch of the competition and relations of the judging committee are not eligible to compete.

Originality and copyright: Entrants can only submit original works for which they are the sole creators and copyright holders. In the case of a group of authors, the names and ages of all authors must be listed and will be considered as a single Entrant in the copyright rules described below, as well as for the prizes and benefits indicated in Section 3.

Team composition and member modifications: Entrants may only indicate their team members during the initial submission. Team members cannot be added or removed after the open call for applications closes. The WFF Youth Initiative team retains the right to remain impartial and uninvolved in any disputes concerning changes to team membership.

Supervisor inclusion: Entrants can include a supervisor from their institute/university. This supervisor is not considered part of the team.

Mentor and reviewer restrictions: TRC mentors and reviewers are not permitted to be members of their assigned team and are not permitted to participate as authors of the research submitted by their assigned team.

BENEFIT:

Research funding: Winning teams receive up to USD 10 000 in research funding to implement their research projects. In addition, one team will be selected from the winners of each TRC category as the overall winner of the 2025 Transformative Research Challenge and will be awarded an additional USD 10 000 in research funding.

Global visibility: Finalist teams receive recognition for their innovative work through the WFF website and social media channels, showcasing their projects to a global audience.

Networking opportunities: Finalist teams connect with a global network of young leaders, agrifood experts and representatives from the public and private sectors, including the United Nations.

Capacity development: Semi-finalist teams receive expert guidance to strengthen their skills in research proposal development.

Invitation to FAO headquarters: Finalist teams are invited to present their research at the TRC Finals held at FAO headquarters in Rome in October 2025, in front of a high-level jury and a global audience via live stream on a range of platforms including UN Web TV.

Post awards support: Finalists are invited to apply for the WFF Youth Food Lab incubator programme. Winning teams may also receive continued support to further develop and implement their research proposals.