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Thank you to all of our judges for participating in the 2022 pre-proposal review process. Below are some resources to help you as you evaluate the applications that have been assigned to you. Should you have any questions during your review, please reach out to us at bigideas@berkeley.edu.
Review Period Deadlines:
Please note, this year judges have been assigned to 1 of 2 judging periods.
Group 1 Deadline: December 19, 2022
Group 2 Deadline: January 13, 2023
If you are interested in serving as a Big Ideas Judges in the future, please review the information below and complete an application form expressing your interest. You will have an opportunity to specify your preferences in terms of contest round and categories in the interest form. Feel free to email us at bigideas@berkeley.edu with questions!
Big Ideas Judges have a unique opportunity to “give back,” while also getting a first-hand look at innovative ideas from UC Berkeley and other participating universities – and provide invaluable feedback and advice to help shape them. Each year, Big Ideas teams report that the feedback they receive from judges is one of the most valuable takeaways from their experience. In addition to supporting student innovators, judges also have the opportunity to build their own professional networks by joining our growing network of over 1000 current and past Big Ideas judges, mentors, faculty and alumni.
This year, there are two opportunities to participate as a judge – you are welcome to participate in one or both.
Judges are professionals from a variety of fields with one thing in common: a passion for innovative ideas. In order to ensure we provide teams with the best feedback possible, and help them to think deeply about their topic and the field it falls into, we look for judges who have a minimum of 5 years of professional experience and at least ONE of the following:
Judges help the Big Ideas team determine who will advance to the final stage of the contest and who will be selected to receive awards. Judges review student proposals, score them, and provide detailed feedback on how the student or team could improve upon their idea or proposal. This anonymous feedback is extremely valuable to students, who receive it and rely heavily on it to improve their idea!
Big Ideas judges help the team by serving as a judge in ONE of the contest categories. The review process is conducted entirely online through our Submittable application & review platform. Judges can participate remotely in their free time during the review window, and will be able to save and come back to their reviews at their convenience. Judges can participate in the Pre-Proposal Round and/or the Final Round of each year’s contest:
During the Pre-Proposal round, judges are asked to review approximitely 6-8 pre-proposals. Each proposal is 3 pages long and most judges report spending ~30-45 minutes reviewing each of them and providing detailed feedback. Including training, judges spend a total 4-6 hours. During the Final Round, judges will review approximately 5-6 final proposals in their assigned category. Each proposal is up to 8 pages long (not including appendices), and most judges report spending ~60 minutes reviewing each of them.
Yes! There is training for judges at the beginning each of round’s judging window. Judges training will be webcast live and recorded so that judges can review the materials they need whenever is most convenient for them.
Each judge is asked to complete an interest form, where they share their background and experience and their interests, as well as their preferences in terms of which category they would like to serve in. The Big Ideas team assigns categories based on responses and expressed preferences – and will typically confirm your category as soon as you sign up. Judges who express flexibility are often placed once we receive all student applications, and we know where we can best leverage everyone’s expertise!
Yes! Many judges change categories between rounds and years. The Big Ideas team will do their best to consider preferences and match judges based on their areas of interest and expertise. Judges are also welcome to judge multiple categories in any one round – if they are willing to commit the necessary time. However, it is not possible for a judge to be assigned proposals across different categories in any one round.
All judging is done entirely online, so that judges can participate remotely in their free time. Judges will get access to their assigned proposals, as well as brief overviews of all the proposals submitted in their category at the beginning of the judging window. They will then have ~3 weeks to review their proposals at their convenience. All proposals are due by the end of the judging window – but can be saved and returned to anytime before then.
Yes! We love it when judges choose to participate in both rounds of the contest. Every year, we have judges who choose to judge in both rounds, and judges who choose to do only one or the other. We also have many judges who choose to serve as a Mentor in the Final Round. It is entirely up to you and the time you are willing to commit!
Most teams are in the early stages of their ideas, and have yet to begin the process of protecting their intellectual property, where applicable. Unless a team explicitly states that their idea is open or they are willing for it to be publicly shared, we treat all submissions as confidential. Judges are not given contact information in the proposals, but the Big Ideas team can help facilitate communication between judges and students/teams if students agree to it.