Senior Student Graduation Project Competition Call for Proposals

Submission Deadline Extended to October 31, 2024

The USAID-funded Center of Excellence for Energy (COE/E) invites proposals for the Senior Student Graduation Project Competition. This activity offers undergraduate students at Ain Shams, Aswan, and Mansoura universities hands-on research experience in energy-related fields and the chance to fund their projects and compete and win cash awards.

Given the significance of energy challenges today, COE/E, led by Arizona State University in collaboration with its Egyptian university partners, seeks innovative research proposals addressing Egypt’s critical energy needs in areas such as renewable energy, emerging technologies, climate change, and policy development.

COE/E will sponsor 15 groups of senior students working on innovative energy-related graduation projects. Each group will receive funding to cover essential expenses such as lab supplies, research materials, and prototyping tools. Each group must consist of at least five senior students and have a faculty supervisor.

In May 2025, these groups will present their projects in a competition judged by university professors and energy industry experts. Valuable cash awards will be granted to the top three winning teams.

COE/E and Arizona State University aim to provide equal opportunities for all students. Thus, the project strongly encourages the participation of women, persons with disabilities, and applicants with socioeconomic disadvantages.

Suggested Research Topics

Senior student teams may propose projects in any energy-related area, including but not limited to the following:

Energy Systems

• • Generation, grid & micro-grid, efficient generation, transmission, and distribution
  • Energy storage, batteries, hydro storage, hydrogen production, etc.

Energy Efficiency and Automation

• • Efficient energy generation, transmission, and use
  • Energy management applications, smart homes and cities, smart distribution networks, energy systems monitoring and evaluation, etc.
  • Architecture, buildings, transportation, systems automation, sensors, etc.

Renewable Energy

• • Solar, bio, fuel cell, wind, hybrid system, geo, etc.
  • Applications, home & industry, water pumping, water desalination, etc.
  • Clean energy technology, green hydrogen, carbon neutral conversion of gas to hydrogen, etc.

Climate, Energy-Environment Interdependency, Sustainable Energy

• • Energy-climate change solutions, carbon footprint/neutralizing carbon, etc.

Energy-Water Nexus

• • Energy and water research with a focus on energy and electricity generation for water, desalination, clean energy for wastewater filtering, and related areas

Advanced Materials for Energy Applications

• • Development of new materials for solar cells, batteries, supercapacitors, fuel cells, and other energy storage technologies
  • Research on thermoelectric materials and their applications in energy generation and waste heat recovery

Smart Grid Technologies

• • Development of smart grid infrastructure, integration of renewable energy sources, and enhancing grid resilience
  • Research on demand response, grid stability, and advanced metering infrastructure

Energy Policy and Economics

• • Analysis of energy policies and their impact on energy systems in Egypt
  • Economic modeling of energy projects, cost-benefit analysis, and investment strategies for renewable energy projects

Proposal Submission Deadline: October 31, 2024, 11:59 PM Cairo time

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for the Senior Student Graduation Project Competition, student applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Be a graduating senior student at Ain Shams, Mansoura, or Aswan universities and enrolled in a graduation project
• Be part of a group of at least five students, with one designated team leader,  and have the proposal submitted by the team leader
• Be involved in a project focusing on an energy-related topic, supported by a supervising faculty member
• Provide a support letter from the faculty supervisor
• The project must address a significant energy-related challenge in Egypt
• Have completed the proposal package in its entirety according to the call for proposals guidelines

Proposal Submission and Selection Process

The complete proposal package should be submitted online using the link provided. Click Find out More below to view details in the Senior Student Graduation Project Competition Call for Proposals.

Proposal Template: Please download and fill in this project proposal template to submit on behalf of your group.

The proposals will be evaluated by a faculty and industry committee based on several criteria, including technical merit, innovation, commercialization potential, and contribution to solving energy sector challenges. 

Key Dates

• Proposal submission: October 31, 2024
• Presentations to the selection committee: November 14, 2024
• Project start: November 21, 2024
• Mid-point presentation to COE/E and university faculty: February 2025
• Final online presentation: July 1, 2025
• Awards ceremony: July 2, 2025

Next Steps and Further Information

For more information on eligibility criteria, financial support, proposal package details, student selection process, and more, click Find out More for the ‘Call for Proposals.’

If you have any questions, please email coe–[email protected] and include the subject line “Senior Student Graduation Project Competition.”

Please submit your proposal by clicking the button below.