4 Competitions You Will Want to Win this Month in Egypt

A wide array of student competitions have arisen this month in Egypt, catering for different talents seeking to be unlocked. Barakabits put up a list of four exciting contests for each personal knack:

1) A clever pen? The Unsold stories competition gives talented writers the opportunity to enter a short story between 1500 and 5000 words, on genres ranging from science fiction to romance, to magical realism to a genre not yet described. The only condition: the story has to be dictated by your passion, not the needs of the market. Organized by Rowayat and the Forgotten Writers Foundation, which will offer the winning writer the chance to be published in the third Issue of Rowayat, in January 2015 and an EGP 2500 prize money. For bases and conditions, check their website.

2) A dream to become an artist, chef, photographer, or fashion designer? Nana talents is organizing the “Nothing stops you” competition, who gives young women the chance to pitch their project on the website to be voted by viewers. The finalists will get the chance to be tutored by successful women entrepreneurs; while the winners will be offered an international course to support their projects in prestigious schools such as Homemade London, Dublin Cookery School, Alchimia Contemporary Jewelry School in Florence, London School of Photography, Milan Style Academy. Check the contestants or participate here.

3) An interest in engineering? Undergraduate student teams from all universities in Egypt can participate in the ROV regional competition, taking part in “explorer” or “ranger” classes. ROV is a tethered underwater robot used for many purposes across many industries that operate underwater, and can perform specialized tasks in industries such as oil and gas, commercial shipping, salvage, ship husbandry, potable water, ocean engineering, video production, scientific research and others. Check the competition’s details here.

4) A bright entrepreneurial idea? The American University in Cairo will be hosting the local edition of The Hult competition, the world’s largest student crowd-sourcing platform for social good. The contest awards $1 million in startup funding to a student team that develops the most radical and innovative idea to solve the world’s toughest social challenges, this year focused on education in urban slums. For more information, email icge@gmail.com or visit hultprizeat.