Paul Wouters to judge $100 million competition
Prof. Paul Wouters (CWTS) has been appointed by the US based MacArthur Foundation as one of the judges to evaluate proposals in a competition for a grant of $100 million to solve a critical social problem
100&Change
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s competition, called '100&Change', opened last June, 2016 to organisations working in any field of endeavour anywhere and closed early October. As a judge, Paul Wouters will evaluate valid proposals randomly assigned to him according to a strict set of criteria designed to favour proposals that maximize measurable impact in their chosen areas.
“Solving society’s most pressing problems isn’t easy, but we believe it can be done,” said MacArthur President Julia Stasch. “Potential solutions may go unnoticed or under-resourced and are waiting to be brought to scale. Every 3 years, we plan to award $100 million to help make one of these solutions a reality. Through '100&Change', we want to inspire, encourage, and support other people’s ideas. Here in our hometown Chicago, across the nation and around the world, about how to address major challenges and enable real progress toward a solution.”
Timeline
Semi-finalists will be announced in December. Each semi-finalist will receive assistance from an expert team to identify and address questions about technical and organisational capacity required to implement each proposed solution, including specific plans to monitor, evaluate, and learn during implementation. Each semi-finalist will also be asked to show significant, authentic engagement with affected communities. MacArthur’s Board of Directors will select finalists in the summer of 2017. Finalists will present their solutions during a live event in the fall of 2017, after which the Board will make the final decision about the $100 million grant recipient.