Below is a transcription of the Information Webinar: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) AlgaePrize 2023 – 2025 Competition, which was held in October 2023 by DOE in partnership with the Algae Foundation.
...................................
Erik Ringle, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Hello, everyone, and welcome to today's webinar on the AlgaePrize 2023 to 2025 competition. I'm Erik Ringle from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. And before we get started, I'm going to cover a couple of housekeeping items, just so you know how you can participate and make the most of the event today.
You'll be in listen-only mode during the webinar. You can select audio connection options to listen to your computer audio, or you can dial in through your phone. For the best connection, we recommend calling in through a phone line.
You may submit questions for our panelists today using the Q&A panel here in Webex. If you are in full-screen view, click the question mark icon located on the floating toolbar on the lower right side of your screen. That will open that Q&A panel. If you are currently in split screen mode, that Q&A panel is already open and is also at the lower right side of your screen.
To submit your questions, simply select all panelists in the Q&A dropdown menu, type in your question or comment, and press enter on your keyboard. You may send in those questions at any time during the presentation. We will collect these, and time permitting, address them during a Q&A session with our panelists today.
Now if you have technical difficulties or need help during today's session, I want to direct your attention to the chat section. The chat section is different from the Q&A panel. It appears at a comment bubble in your control panel. Your questions or comments in the chat section only come to me, so please be sure to use that Q&A panel I just talked about for content questions for our panelists.
Automated closed captioning is available today. To turn it on, select show closed captions at the lower left side of your screen.
We are also recording this webinar. It will be posted on the Bioenergy Technologies Office website in the coming weeks, along with these slides.
If you're interested in learning about BETO news, events, and funding opportunities, we also invite you to sign up to the BETO mailing list shown here. I will post links to both of these resources in the chat here in just a moment.
Now just a quick disclaimer. This webinar, including all audio and images of participants and presentation materials, may be recorded, saved, edited, distributed, used internally, posted on the U.S. Department of Energy's website, or otherwise made publicly available. If you continue to access this webinar and provide such audio or image content, you consent to such use by or on behalf of DOE and the government for government purposes, and acknowledge that you will not inspect or approve or be compensated for such use.
All right. With that, we'll now begin with just a short video before I turn things over to Sara Leonard to introduce today's speakers.
[Video]
Sara Leonard, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Hi. I'm Sara Leonard with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and I will introduce today's speakers. Our first speaker is Dr. Ike Levine, CEO of the Algae Foundation. And our second speaker will be Christy Sterner, who is the technology manager for the Renewable Carbon Resources Subprogram within the US Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office. I'll turn the presentation over to Dr. Levine.
Dr. Ike Levine, Algae Foundation
Good afternoon, everyone. It's a pleasure to be here, and I'm so excited to go through today's presentation. Next slide, please.
So we're here to talk about AlgaePrize 2023 through 2025. Registration is now open. We have about a week left, and we'll go over timelines later on in the program. Next, please.
So the AlgaePrize. What is it? The AlgaePrize is the U.S. Department of Energy's sponsored prize, and it's managed through the National Renewable Energy Lab, with assistance from the Algae Foundation. It is an opportunity for students to learn so much, not only about algae, but about being a professional, what it's like to be mentored and have the opportunity to network with professionals throughout the algae value chain. And feedback from the first AlgaePrize has really shown that the students have gained so much more besides doing great algal research. Next slide, please.
So just take a few seconds to review AlgaePrize One, and that went from January of 2022 through April of 2023. And on the left-hand side, you see the United States, and the darker the state, the more students from that state were participants in the first Algae Prize. So it's obvious that California and Texas sent us the most students. Thirty-five of 50 states had representative students as part of the AlgaePrize.
On the right-hand side, you see the number of countries that sent us students to be part of the AlgaePrize, and of course, the darker the country, the more students, and the lion's share of course came from the United States. But we still get emails throughout the days of registration from countries all around the globe, can we participate? And you can participate, being a non-US citizen, but you must be a degree-seeking student at a US-based educational institution. Now you can be a student on a foreign campus to say Yale or Harvard, University of Michigan, who have campuses around the globe. But again, you don't have to be a citizen, but you must be attending and be a degree-seeking student at a US-based institution of higher learning.
On the bottom, we have some statistics. In our first AlgaePrize, we had 43 collegiate teams, 5 community college teams, and 13 high school teams. And we welcome teams from high school through getting your doctorate. We had a total of 307 students, and the areas in which they investigated were distributed along our three themes: downstream processing, cultivation and production, and novel products, analytical tools, and included in that category was ecosystem services.
You can see the depth and breadth of the geography, of the location, of the numbers, and what they studied in the first Algae Prize. Next, please.
I'm happy to show that these are the 15 finalist teams, and they're from all around the country, and again, even a high school team made one of the 15 finalist teams. We had several teams from Puerto Rico, and we had a generous mix between microalgae and seaweeds. The teams highlighted in red, Algaeorithm, PhycoSight, UC Davis Giant Kelp Team, the Puerto Rican Team, and Kelp! I Need Some Algae, from the University of Alaska.
And so those were the five championship teams. They went head to head – next slide, please – for the grand championship, and Kelp! I Need Some Algae, from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, was the grand champion team. On the left, you see the two graduate students and their faculty mentor, and you can see the joyousness of giving away really big checks at that event.
In the center, you see our group photo of the 15 teams that gathered at the National Renewable Energy Lab to celebrate each of the teams' accomplishments. Last year, we gave a total of $15,000.00 to the grand champion, ten to the champion teams, and each of the student finalist teams earned $5,000.00.
We have increased that this year. Each of the finalist teams will earn $10,000. The championship teams will all get $10,000, similar to last year. But the grand champion team will earn a total of $25,000. So that's a pretty remarkable accomplishment in terms of the support for this Algae Prize. Next, please.
Well, this is where we say thank you. And the Bioenergy Technologies Office of the U.S. Department of Energy is the grand sponsor of this event. They provide the leadership. They provide the capital. And they provide a myriad of offices of professionals that help us get the word out, help us organize it, lend us the access to the e-blasts, and even this webinar. We couldn’t have done this – couldn't have gone anywhere with this concept without the help of the Department of Energy.
We have two supporting organizations, the Algae Foundation, which I'm proud to be a member of, and the National Renewable Energy Lab, out of Golden, Colorado. Again, the National Renewable Energy Lab not only hosts the championship weekend, their staff, their comms team, their administration has been a tremendous relationship for the Algae Foundation, and the two of us help support the development of the AlgaePrize. Next, please.
Let's just talk a little bit about some of the supporters of the AlgaePrize. The Algae Foundation believes that products made from algae are natural solutions to the energy, food, economic, and climate challenges that we face today. Algae has the power to simultaneously put fuels in our vehicles, recycle carbon dioxide, provide nutrition for animals and people, and create jobs for millions of Americans.
Our mission is to create a future where algae is recognized as an essential solution for the sustainable and healthy planet through education, mentoring, and public outreach and engagement. We aim to promote the power of algae to transform human society and the environment on which it depends, and to facilitate a future in which algae are a fundamental source of energy/nutrition products and ecological services for sustainable societies throughout the globe.
We promote lifelong education and learning opportunities for students and professionals of all ages. Some of the programs we support is ATEC, the Algae Technology Educational Consortium. It was formed, again, through funding from BETO and the Department of Energy. And we all develop a series of educational and workforce development products that can serve Americans and beyond.
Here, we have a map of who we've served. The green countries represent 100 countries that have sent students to take our courses, whether they're online courses or in person collegiate courses. The red dots represent the Algae Academy. That's a K-12 program – this is a little bit dated, because we're now in all 50 states, all 50 states, and we're serving between 60 and 75,000 K-12 students each year.
In total, we've reached over 200,000 students in all of our efforts over the last 4 years, and that includes MOOCs, massive open online courses. We have three of them on Coursera.org. We have the ACES, or our extension efforts, and our collegiate efforts, which are divided between cultivation courses and algal biotechnology. So in all, from K to gray, we support workforce development, education, and training throughout the country and the globe. Next, please.
So let's try to start getting into the nuances of the AlgaePrize. We're looking for students to develop novel, unique, really significant, and looking at what the AlgaePrize One did, we are amazed at the depth and breadth of the research efforts of our student teams. We really want that enthusiasm, that dedication, that imagination to carry over into this AlgaePrize.
We've extended it by three months. So we started in September, and we will go through April of 2025. This represents quite a commitment by the teams. Now remember, a team, if someone graduates and gets their doctorate in the middle of this 20 month effort, that's okay. That's okay. You're more than welcome to stay on the team. If you graduate high school and you go into college, you're more than welcome to stay on the team. If in the middle of the competition you get or recruit additional students, absolutely cool. You can add students throughout the competition. And it's there, whether you're doing molecular work in terms of improving cultivar enhancement, through new product development, it's about developing applied, real world solutions to the algal value chain.
And one of the real foundations of the AlgaePrize is the students get to work with commercial algal professionals, national lab researchers, academics, and so the mentoring goes deep and it goes wide. Next slide, please.
So who are we inviting? Who would we encourage to be part of this opportunity? How do you form a team? You need two students, a minimum of two degree-seeking students in a US-based school, whether it's a high school, a community college, a four-year college, a university, or a graduate school, anywhere from a freshman in high school to a doctoral candidate, that has to be still a doctoral candidate on November 1. If they get their doctorate in December of 2023, they're welcome to stay on the team for the remainder of the competition.
So we encourage teams from every level, but we also encourage teams of mixed students. So in the previous AlgaePrize, we had a high school student joining a collegiate team that also had graduate students. So you can be from different schools. Our high school team, one student was from San Francisco, and the other student was from Georgia. And so it doesn't matter. You can be from different schools and form a team. Each team must have at least one faculty mentor. Next, please.
So what are the areas of interest? Now I don't want to confuse. These are areas of interest. These are not distinct categories. So a production research effort will be judged side by side with a downstream processing, as well as a new product or analytical tools. They're all judged by the same set of judges. They're not separately considered, and we're not going to award a champion of production, a champion of downstream processing, and a champion of novel products or analytical tools. They're all in the same pool of contestants, and we put these areas of interest for several reasons. One, to help you focus your efforts. Two, to help the Algae Foundation and the Department of Energy know what the student groups are researching, and that helps with our selection of judges.
So again, these are areas of interest, not discrete categories for the competition. And we're talking about production, growing algae, developing better seeds, so that's the cultivar enhancement. That can be genetically altered, it could be site-directed mutagenesis, it could be protoplast fusion, it could be artificial selection. Any of these are eligible.
Aquaculture engineering. What does that mean? Well, if we're going to develop an offshore deep water seaweed farming option in the United States, that represents tremendous opportunities in terms of how do you grow seaweed at depth? How do you keep it safe? What happens in a storm? How do you monitor the algae? How do you harvest the algae?
So all of these things – although harvesting is in the next group, sorry – how you develop this expertise is very, very important. In fact, our first grand champion came from husbandry and productivity. So again, you never know which category is going to lead to the grand champion.
Downstream processing. What does that mean? That means you've grown it. What are you going to do with it? Well, first thing you've got to do is harvest it. Then you've got to process it. Then you've got to get – well, first, you've got to get rid of the water. Microalgae, getting rid of the water is a very challenging process. If you're seaweed, getting rid of the water, not so tough. So again, all of these technologies, all of these opportunities, are open for the students to explore.
And the last thing, the biggest category, novel products, analytical tools, but it also includes ecosystem services. So modeling, in terms of if you're looking at a gigaton scale farm, whether on land or in open ocean, you've got to know the best place, where to do it, when to do it, how to – what techniques to farm. What is the risk involved? All those are a part of computer modeling.
And then if you have a large farm way offshore, you're not going to be living out there. It's not like you can walk up and down the corn rows. You've got to have a way to visualize your crop on a daily basis without having to boat offshore every day. So remote sensing is an opportunity for research in this contest.
So again, these three areas of interest represent the entire algal value chain. Next, please.
Let's get to the dates. The big date right now is November 1. November 1 is when we close team registration.
So what is involved with team registration? Easy-peasy. A name, contact information, and a 500-word abstract. That's it. We're not judging it, so don't worry about, oh, what will the judges think of the spelling or the grammar? Of course, we want you to do as good a job as possible, but in no way is the abstract judged in terms of selection to become a finalist. So November 1. So that represents just about a week. So let's get off the stick and get your teams registered. If you have any trouble with registering, again, please write us, and Serena Chen will guide you through the entire process.
Well, what happens after you submit your abstract? Well, you've got about six weeks, six weeks that takes you through the end of the collegiate semester, to write a 10-page research synopsis. Another word for synopsis is research application, research submission, and so it's 10 pages. And that's to tell us what you're going to do, how you're going to do it, what's the central theme, and what do you anticipate the products. And all of these details are in the rules. So go to HeroX, download the rules, and you can read exactly what is required in each of the steps.
Then we're going to take a month. It's going to over the holidays. We're going to take a month, and the judges will go through all of the 10-page submissions, and they will come up with 15 teams. Those 15 teams will be called finalists. Those teams will earn $10,000 a piece. And that $10,000 hopefully is to support your research, but also to support your travel to the NREL student competition in April 2025.
Some of the details along the way is after you're selected, about three weeks later, each of the teams are informally going through a Zoom or Teams video meeting, is going to pitch their research proposal to the Algae Foundation staff.
After that, it's up and away with the research, and you have three update reports, one due in June, the next in September, and the last one December of '24. These are mandated, time-sensitive update reports to reflect what you're doing well, what are your challenges, did you add students, did you lose students? And again, these are just updates to help you work through your 20-month effort and to help us understand your progress.
Then some of the deadlines. On March 10, you have to submit your 25-page final report. And this is to include everything you've done, what went well, what didn't go well? Did you reach – what conclusions? And did you reach your initial goals?
A couple of weeks later, on April 1, you need to submit your PowerPoint presentation that you're going to present to the judges.
And then two weeks after that, you're going to come to Colorado, and you're going to present your poster. You're going to give a 15-minute presentation. You're going to have the opportunity to enter into a question-and-answer session with the judges. Your video will be played. You'll be mentored. You'll have the opportunity for engagement with professionals in various fields. You'll have mentorship. And then you'll have student to student group interactions. And so it was an amazing two and a half days.
We have expanded it this year to be three and a half days, so that gives more time for the amazing tours at the National Renewable Energy Lab. I hope to see you all three. Good luck. Next slide.
So here we are, and we've sort of went through this slide. There's the Algae Cup. It's like the World Cup in soccer, and actually, right now, the World Cup in rugby. But we have the World Cup for the AlgaePrize, and there it is. And again, this is a well-supported – I mean, if you would have told me 30 years ago that I could use my research and enter it into a contest and the possibility of winning $25,000, that's pretty cool. So this is a real opportunity for teams.
And again, the lessons you learn – you know, we have webinars about public speaking. How to accept mentorship and networking, to add to your awareness of the community, the algal community. And it's a wonderful community to be part of.
And so it's so much more than just your research statement. It's a master class in time management. And let's say we all could use some discipline in time management. Deadlines. Deadlines count. And so some of these things, maybe many of these things, aren't, you know, practiced in schools these days. But in this contest, they are. And it's how you represent yourself, your team, and your school.
It's a great thing, and it really brings out excellence. And we so appreciate excellence. Next slide.
At this time, it is my pleasure to introduce Christy Sterner. She has been a partner with the AlgaePrize and the Algae Foundation for eight years. And so, Christy, take it away.
Christy Sterner, DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office
Wonderful. Thank you, Ike, and thank you for that great introduction and the lead-in to what I'm going to talk about. I cannot reiterate enough what Ike said. This is a fantastic competition, and if we had any idea at the outset of Algae Prize One how amazing it was going to be – we exceeded every expectation we possibly had. It was just fantastic. So we're excited to have you join, having your interest, and really hope that you choose to participate in this competition.
As previously mentioned, I am a technology manager with the Renewable Carbon Resources Program with the Bioenergy Technology Office for DOE. And I'm going to talk a little bit about why we chose algae for this competition, and provide additional details about AlgaePrize and the three areas of interest that Ike discussed. Next slide, please.
Our goal through this competition, as Ike mentioned, is for students to gain real world science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, experience, while helping to develop the next generation of bioenergy professionals. Next slide, please.
This brings us to why algae. Why did we choose to go with algae for this competition? Well, the term algae refers to a great diversity of organisms, from microscopic cyanobacteria to giant kelp. For the purposes of the AlgaePrize, algae is defined as both microalgae and macroalgae. Excuse me. Microalgae are microscopic photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms, and cyanobacteria, and macroalgae are considered seaweed, all of which are eligible target organisms for this competition.
We selected algae for this competition because of the genetic diversity of algae, and that means that there are an incredible number of unique properties that could be utilized to develop promising bioenergy, biofuels, and bioproducts.
Some of algae's unique properties include high potential yields per acre, the ability to grow on land not suitable for agriculture, the potential for recycling of water and nutrients during production, and the ability to grow in saline, brackish, or wastewater, and the relative ease of conversion into biofuels and bio products that are fully compatible with today's vehicles, jets, and delivery systems. Next slide, please.
Algae are unique among the various bioenergy feed stocks being researched and developed by the BETO funded programs. Like traditional crops, algae needs sunlight, nutrients, water, and carbon dioxide to grow. But algae production has numerous advantages over traditional crops that sprout from the dirt. With a high aerial productivity, algae can be up to ten times more productive than some terrestrial crops. In fact, some algae strains are capable of doubling in yield overnight.
Beyond that, there is the potential to grow, harvest, and convert algae biomass from microalgae, seaweeds, and cyanobacteria in every state in the United States. For example, you tend to think of algae growing in warm, kind of plush climates, you know, along the coast, and everything, but they also grow – we have great products in Ohio and upwards in Michigan and Minnesota. So algae does grow everywhere across the United States. It's dependent, of course, on having the right environment and the right growth systems paired with that environment.
Every year, BETO researchers learn more about the composition and genetic makeup of algae, and how to adapt it to different climates, how to improve productivity, and how to make it more resilient to pests and diseases. Within the Algae Prize, we're hoping students can expand upon some of these findings, or even bring their own new research to the table. Next slide, please.
Based on the research areas of interest that Ike discussed earlier and the challenges within each of these areas, we hope to see a wide range of innovative products. Projects within the first area of interest, production, could address selection, manipulation, and genetic modification of cultivars for increased productivity, biomass composition, and contamination resistance, to new and improved cultivation systems.
We are super excited to see what teams propose for new and innovative projects in the second area of interest as well, downstream processing. Waste and nutrient management are critical within the entire process, and innovations relative to either can have both major – can have major impacts on both the techno, economic, and life cycle analyses.
We may see projects proposing new and innovative fractionation techniques. Maybe some will focus on new unit operations solely, and how to get the necessary intermediates and specifications to economically and efficiently make marketable products from the proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids.
This of course leads right into the third area of interest, novel products and analytical tools. Both play a major role in the overall economics and life cycles of these systems. Between the large number of algae species out there and the wide variety of compositions available in those species, there are numerous innovative opportunities in this area. Analytical tools can be used everywhere within the algae process, and can be extremely valuable. It would be exciting to see projects focused on detecting contamination well before the cultivation systems cross, or to see new tools for providing new need-based nutrient management and delivery.
Algae has so much potential to make positive impacts in the environment, through CO2 reduction by utilization, displacing petroleum, and removing contaminants from wastewater systems. The door to innovation in ecological and environmental systems is wide open. Next slide, please.
Here's how you can learn more. We have a number of AlgaePrize resources available to guide you through this competition. You can visit Energy.gov/AlgaePrize – please note the AlgaePrize is one word – for details about this competition. This is also where you can access a link to the AlgaePrize rules. This document provides information on the schedule, requirements for submittals, information on how the review process works, etcetera. Very, very valuable and useful document. I highly, highly encourage you to download it and read through it in its entirety.
You can also email us at AlgaePrize@EE.DOE.gov with any questions. Again, that's AlgaePrize@EE.DOE.gov. And again, remember, AlgaePrize is one word.
If you have any questions about the competition, use any of these mechanisms to contact us. We are happy to provide additional information, answer questions, and help you in any way we possibly can.
We hope this has inspired you and encouraged you to participate in the AlgaePrize. Please remember to register your team and submit your abstract by November 1. Thank you, and I think we have time for questions, so I will turn it back over to Sara.
Sara Leonard
Thanks, Christy. So, if anyone has questions, we have a few minutes to answer them, so just please add them to the chat, and we can see what we can get to. And one question that we do have so far is, “What are the steps to register for AlgaePrize?” And I actually want to show you the process, rather than tell you, so you can kind of see the steps to take. Start from this Energy.gov/AlgaePrize link that you see on the slide here. And then if you have any questions about how that works after seeing it, then you can let us know.
So I will go ahead and share my screen and guide you through that process really fast. Okay. So here is the landing page for the AlgaePrize competition that you can get to from that link shown on the slide. And you'll simply scroll down to this gray box here. The first one, the first link you can ignore, because that's for the webinar that we're on today. But the second link here, “team abstracts are due Wednesday, November 1,” that will take you to the registration page on HeroX, which is what Ike was talking about earlier.
Just a heads-up. There's also a registration link down here. So either one of those works.
I'll click on that. It'll prompt me to exit Energy.gov, so I'll agree. And then here we are at the HeroX page, which is the registration page for AlgaePrize. And you'll scroll down just a little bit to this button here that I'm hovering over called “Solve this Challenge,” and that's actually the button that you want to click to sign in or register for the first time.
So when you click on that, you'll simply see the fields to sign in with email and password if you've already registered, or you can scroll all the way to the bottom of the box, under New User, just click create new account. And you'll go to this page to fill in all of your information, including first and last name, email, and then password. Then you'll just click that you agree to the terms of use, tell them you're not a robot, and click create account.
So once you do that, then you will be prompted to add all of your information for your team, the abstracts, team photo, all of the things we've been talking about today.
And actually, since I am sharing the screen, I will go back to the main page on HeroX here and show you some other features that we talked about today, including some of this information, if you scroll down, background. And then down at the bottom here, before guidelines, you'll see the link to Algae Prize 2023 to 2025 rules. And that is the detailed information on every little thing that you need to know about registering and the projects, as Ike talked about earlier. So, those are some of the things that might be helpful on registering and finding out more information.
The first question in the Q&A box, “For the February 2024 pitches, this is from the selected 15 teams?”
Dr. Ike Levine
Yes. Those teams that have been selected as finalists will be asked to join us [in individual meetings]. That's why there's a week timeframe. Each team will schedule with myself, Christy, and Serena a slot of time where you can go over your concepts, your hypotheses, your methods and materials. We may make some comments. We may make some suggestions. They are not judged. They're just informational exchanges, so you get comfortable with us, and we understand where you're coming from.
Sara Leonard
Thanks, Ike. Next question, “Is intellectual property protected? For instance, if a research project leads to patentable results?”
Dr. Ike Levine
This happened last year, so it's a great question. So yes, yes, and yes. Okay? Enough said? No. Intellectual property is absolutely protected. And how do we go about that? The 25-page final reports are not public documents, so you can include secured or confidential information about your project in those documents. You can leave them out of your poster, your video, and your 15-minute presentation.
The AlgaePrize is not encumbering any ownership or partnership as part of future intellectual property.
Christy Sterner
Yep, and I would also add that as you go through the rules about the review process that we do for selections, the 15 finalist teams, and then, of course, of the winning teams, and the grand champion, our reviewers sign NDAs, which means that they review the details of your project, including the technical details, and potentially business sensitive or proprietary. However, they are covered under that NDA to not use it or share it, and at any time, if you'd like to see that NDA, and you want to see what's in there to see what is covered, we would absolutely provide that to you. But you don't have to worry about the industry folks that represent the reviewers about IP or anything like that, as they are covered under DOE's NDAs.
Sara Leonard
Great. Next question, “For the proposed research, what level is expected? Can it be lab scale or elevated to a field scale, like what the Kelp! team did in Alaska?”
Dr. Ike Levine
Well, let's see if I can put it succinctly. It can go from a test tube to a 1,000 acre farm. So in terms of scale, we are talking molecular genetics, so we're talking at the angstrom level, all the way up to giant kelp. So there is no restriction. It is the totality of the algae value chain, and beyond.
Sara Leonard
Great. Next question is, “What are the guidelines for what the prize money can be used for?”
Dr. Ike Levine
There are no restrictions. You can use it to buy a piece of equipment. You can use it to pay for some lab exercises. You can use it for the world's largest pizza party. So there are no guidelines. We hope – and most of the teams used it – the initial funds to support the research, to buy samples, to buy expertise, to buy lab analyses, to buy supplies, to buy glassware, etcetera.
And actually, I don't know what the winning teams, the championship teams, did with their big money. I must admit, we've never asked. So again, there is no restrictions on what you can do with the money.
Sara Leonard
Thank-you. Next question. “Is it okay for a student team to have support from two companies? Students are still doing the work, but some of the tools needed to come from companies.”
Dr. Ike Levine
The answer to that is absolutely. Team sponsorship – I'll give you a for instance. The team from PUPR, which I believe is the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico. So they had external sponsors that bought analytics, supplies, but also some really cool uniforms. They had a different color uniform for every day. So they looked sharp. They looked fantastic.
So yes, you can raise money from any external sources, whether it's a bean supper, a raffle, or an auction, or just getting sponsorships directly from companies, individuals, communities.
Sara Leonard
Great. And the next question is, “Does the AlgaePrize have printed documents that can be distributed to potential educational institutions, or a link that can be shared with educational institutions?” And I can start by answering that question. The rules for AlgaePrize and some of the other documents on the page that I just shared a moment ago are in PDF form, so you could easily share links depending on what kind of information you're looking for to educational institutions or other groups that might need it. But yeah, Christy, Ike, if you want to jump in, too.
Dr. Ike Levine
Well, again, the biggest asset for that would be either the Department of Energy's AlgaePrize website, the HeroX website, where you could look at photos, you could look at the documents and some of the resources from the first AlgaePrize that I believe are all downloadable or accessible. I think it's 30 plus pages for the rules. And if that's not enough, you are more, more than welcome to email us, either at the AlgaePrize@EE.DOE.gov, or you can email directly to Serena at the Algae Foundation, which would just be AlgaePrize@TheAlgaeFoundation.org.
And we have pamphlets. We have one-page informational sheets that we're more than willing to share with individuals, teams, or schools.
Sara Leonard
Thanks, Ike. Next question, “Are there any age limits for the students participating?”
Dr. Ike Levine
The answer to that question is if they're a registered student seeking a degree at a US-based institution, they could be unlimited age. I was going to say 100 years old, but there are people older than that. There is zero age limit on the upside. On the downside, you have to be in high school. So middle schoolers – and we did have a very serious middle school student wanting to apply last time, and you hate to turn anyone down. And the project was really cool. But unfortunately, we asked her to wait another two years.
Sara Leonard
Great. Next question, “When we make submissions I think on the HeroX page, will we get an email letting us know the submission has been complete?”
And I believe the answer is yes to that. Once you create your account through the HeroX page, it'll have your email address, and you should get an email when you've submitted something, when you've created your account.
Dr. Ike Levine
Again, just to introduce her, Serena Chen is our dedicated Algae Prize manager, and she's here to serve the teams, make sure to minimize uncertainty. For instance, last year, we had a specific team, and I think we've just identified what it was, a school where when people used the school computers or the school internet, somehow had some sort of security issue with HeroX. And they were the only team that could not successfully upload.
And so, of course, panic would set in, and of course, they contacted our office, and they submitted all of their work on time to us directly. And we had to manually upload it for this specific team. And we asked some of the people to go home and use their home internet and home browsers, and it worked. So there's something having to do with the school server that is somehow interfering with the HeroX system.
And if that ever happens to any of you, don't worry. As long as you're in contact with us before the deadlines, we will work through it before the deadline, or in some cases, after the deadline. It's just work with us beforehand, not after the fact.
Sara Leonard
Just another note that both of those email addresses that Ike's referring to are in the chat, so just make sure to note those.
Christy Sterner
Yep. And I was actually just going to reiterate, please use those, because Ike gives a great example. We are here to help. We're super excited and passionate about this program, as you can tell. So if you run into issues, if you have questions, if you have problems, challenges, if you're looking for contacts or additional resources or things like that, don't hesitate to reach out to us. That's what we're here for. We want to help you. We're looking forward to helping you and working with you. So contact us, by all means, no matter what it is.
Sara Leonard
OK. A couple more questions here. “Is this opportunity open to non-US citizens, specifically Canadians?”
Dr. Ike Levine
OK. Well, our friends to the North are unbelievably welcome, but they must be attending a U.S. school. So again, we have gotten called from Morocco, a great project, but they were going to the Morocco state university. And unfortunately, they could not be a participant. So if you're going to the University of British Columbia, unfortunately, you would not be eligible to join the AlgaePrize. Although I must admit, we did make a mistake. I know we said we're in 100 countries. We actually had 101 countries.
Canada, Mexico, and every other country in the world, students are totally welcome if they're going – if they're a degree-seeking student in a US-based institution of education.
Sara Leonard
OK. Just checking to see if there's any more questions. I think that's all we have. Erik, did you get any additional questions?
Erik Ringle
I think there was just one more question about whether it's okay to propose a high-risk, high-reward research, but maybe have a backup plan in case it doesn't work out?
Dr. Ike Levine
Well, just like ARPA-E, we love high-risk, high-reward opportunities. So again, the depth and breadth and diversity of submissions last year were mindboggling, from machine learning to genetics to aquaculture engineering to husbandry to new product development. There is no limit.
I don't know how many times I can say it with enthusiasm. If it's an algae, including a lichen, all the way up to giant kelps, if we're talking ecosystem services, you know, you're going to somehow de-acidify the oceans, or you're going to suck up every extra nitrogen molecule in the ocean, or eutrophic lake, or you're creating biodegradable ties, or the next set of steel that doesn't need iron, it doesn't matter how high-risk, as long as it's well-proposed, and the research plan is both cogent and logical.
Again, that's what they're going to be looking at. No one is going to say, oh, that was a great proposal, but we didn't think you could do it, so we're not going to vote for you. That's not how it goes. It's that was an amazing research proposal, and we loved it, and you're going to get high grades. It's about the excellence of the ten-page submission.
Christy Sterner
Yep, and I would add to that and say I'm highly intrigued by whoever asked that question, so we hope you apply.
Dr. Ike Levine
Yes. And the one suggestion is look at the rule book, and look at the requirements for the ten-page submission. There are questions asked. There are subjects. There are categories. Don't leave a single one out, because these judges, they know everything that's required. And if you think, ah, it was just a suggestion. They won't miss it if I don't answer it. Trust me when I say every one of those 15 finalist teams answered every single prompt for their ten-page question. If it asks for a team photo, have a team photo. If it asks for an abstract, make sure the abstract is there. If it asks for references, don't just put quotation marks and not have the references to back it up. If it asks for specific scientific notion or schedule or style or font or size or margins, do it. It's suggestions, yes, but trust me when I say the judges look at all of those things.
And Christy and I are not judges. We are team cheerleaders. We judge nothing. So we can be – not mentors, but we can assist with every question, every concern, every bit of anxiety. We are here to smooth and enhance your opportunity and your experience.
Sara Leonard
OK. Any other questions? I don't think anything else has come in.
Dr. Ike Levine
Well, on behalf of Christy and I and the Department of Energy, the National Renewable Energy Lab, the Algae Foundation, all the staff and partners and collaborators who have put this on, we'll be putting it on for the next 20 months. Thank you for participating. I sure hope every one of you think that they're the winning team. Organize. Sign up. Register.
Sign up by November 1. And don't wait till three minutes before. I can't tell you how many people who sign up within 60 seconds, and they do, but how many people try to sign up and they hit the wrong button and they glitch and time goes by? So please, whether – I mean, I say this to my students all the time. You know, there's no issue to doing early. You know, no one's going to think badly if you register two or three days in advance. So don't procrastinate.
Christy Sterner
Great. Thanks, everyone, for attending.
[End of Presentation]