FAQs

Engineers in Business Fellowship (EIBF) provides cash prize funds to individual universities and FE colleges that run business ideas competitions and modules that are open to engineering undergraduates, graduates and postgraduates. Universities are awarded prize funds of up to £3,000 per annum.  EIBF’s charitable aim is to increase the participation of this group in business education to increase their knowledge of business and their employability.

No. If you are awarded a prize fund and find that you do not need all of it for prizes, you will only be able to invoice for the value of the prizes you have awarded to students.

The prize fund money must be awarded to the winning teams or individual winners (individual winners must be an ‘engineer’ or, if a team, then with at least one ‘engineer’ participant in the team). Typically universities award a first, second and third prize. However, we leave the distribution of the prize fund to you.

No – the full amount must be used for prizes for the winners.

No. You run your competition as normal. The only difference is that you will commit to promoting the competition to the target group (ie engineering students/graduates/postgraduates, alumni) so they become aware of the opportunity to participate.

Teams can be multidisciplinary. However, the winning team must include at least one engineering student/graduate/postgraduate. If the prize is to be awarded to a single winner, this person must be an engineering student/graduate/postgraduate.

No, the winning team must include at least one engineering student/graduate/postgraduate. A prize cannot be awarded to a non-engineering person who enters individually.

Yes. The prize fund may be awarded to a multidisciplinary team including at least one engineering student/graduate/postgraduate. If the prize is to be awarded to an individual, that individual must be an engineering student/graduate/postgraduate.

Yes. Please be aware that the funding cannot be used to offset the cost of setting up, running or promoting your competition. The fund is for awarding prizes to winners.

Your competition will be completed within 12 months of your application being approved. If there is a time issue please Contact Us so that we can discuss the matter.

Yes, we welcome entrants from both categories as this enables people from diverse backgrounds to get involved.

Yes. However, there is a limit on the number of years since graduation for alumni participants – this is five years.

The principle is the same as for alumni. If you wish to embrace the wider community, you may do so as long as there is a cap on the number of years the participants have been in the workplace (ie five years).

No, participants are not expected or obliged to do this. A key goal for EIBF is for participants to engage with business topics as part of their educational experience in a way they might not have done without EIBF’s support.

Yes.

If the team is multidisciplinary (engineering/non-engineering students), it can share a prize.

Yes, the competition now embraces some technology degrees, for example, computer sciences and biomedical degree courses.

No. This is something that each university organises.

Yes, they are entitled to a team mentor who can provide support. The nature of that mentoring relationship is decided between the team and the assigned Sainsbury Management Fellow mentor.

It will be a pleasure to attend if we are able to do so. We cannot guarantee attendance as this will depend on the availability of our Sainsbury Management Fellows.

The first prize winning team wins mentoring. One mentor will be assigned to the team, not one mentor per individual team member.

Either the university enterprise educator or the winner should contact the EIB office to confirm that they would like a mentor. Please provide a short explanation of what type of help/mentor they need (eg if there is a particular industry sector, is there a particular issue you want to look at such as IP / marketing etc). Email this information to eibcompetition@eibc.org.uk. We will then match your requirements with our Sainsbury Management Fellows and connect you with your mentor.

No. The prize fund is provided to universities only to enable them to provide prizes for students/graduates taking part in their innovation competitions. If your university is interested in this, please ask the relevant person to contact us.

EIBF makes no stipulations on the use of the prize fund. Any financial prize won may be used by the winners how they wish, whether that is to develop their innovation or their career, or something else. Prize money won by a team (as opposed to an individual) must be shared between the team members.

No. We make prize fund awards on a rolling basis.  If you would like your winners to take part in the Engineers in Business Champion of Champions Competition, you will need to select your prize winners before the entry closing date which is usually the first week of September.  This will enable your prize winners to enter the Champion of Champions Competition.

The EIBC Champion of Champions Final will take place on 7 and 8 November 2024.

All students/graduates (studying engineering, computing subjects and biomedicine) are eligible to enter the EIBC Champion of Champions Final, so long as they have taken part in a university Enterprise Competition during 2023/2024. They do not need to have won an Engineers in Business prize to enter the competition.

EIBF makes no stipulations on the use of the prize fund. Any financial prize won may be used by the winners how they wish, whether that is to develop their innovation or their career, or something else. Prize money won by a team (as opposed to an individual) must be shared between the team members.

A team or individual student/graduate may not re-enter with the same innovation previously presented. If the team or individual (in the right degree classifications – engineering, computing, biomedicine) is still engaged with the university and has developed a new concept, they are eligible to enter the Champion of Champions Final.

Yes, you may.

No – it’s one entry per team or individual (if the person is working alone rather than in a team).

We are looking for an informative poster that explains your innovation, for example, why it was conceived, the target audience, the benefits to the consumer/society. There is no need to include financial information.

Yes, you qualify to enter the Grand Final. So long as your team comprises at least one engineering student/graduate you qualify.

The entrants selected to go forward to the Awards Presentation will have their poster printed A2 size, so please design for this size.

If you experience problems uploading your video/poster, please contact the EIBC Office by email eibcompetition@eibc.org.uk.

The maximum upload limit is 200MB.

When you submitted your entry you will have seen a large purple tick which indicates that your entry has been successfully upload. By mid-September we will inform entrants if they have reached the grand final.

If you have been shortlisted to attend the Grand Final and are unable to attend for whatever reason, you will need to stand down and the next person with the highest score in the judging will be invited to participate in the final.

Sorry, no. The competition doesn’t allow for the same innovation to enter a final twice.

Yes, you may. Please ensure that your video addresses the judging criteria – this can be found on the Grand Final page of this website.

The video must be MP4 format, and the maximum size is 200MB. This information appears on-screen when you upload your video.