Overview
The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) and VentureWell are challenging undergraduate student teams to develop technology solutions to unmet needs in any area of health care. Eight NIH partners, including the NIH Office of AIDS Research, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the National Cancer Institute, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute of Nursing Research, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the Office of Research on Women’s Health, and the National Institute on Aging, are providing a prize each for: 1) technologies for HIV/AIDS prevention and/or care, 2) technologies for underserved populations and/or for low-resource settings, 3) technologies for cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, 4) rehabilitative and assistive technologies for the functional and health care needs of people with physical disabilities, 5) technologies to empower nurses in community settings, 6) solutions to problems faced by people with kidney diseases, their families, nephrologists, and other care providers, 7) technologies to address problems faced by girls and women at any stage of the life course, and 8) technologies to address problems faced by older adults, including those facing Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias.
2025 DEBUT Challenge is now open
Important Dates
- Challenge Launch: March 24, 2025
- Submission Deadline: March 24, 2025 to June 18, 2025, 11:59 PM EDT
- Judging Period: June 20, 2025 to August 18, 2025
- Winners Announced: August 25, 2025
- Award Ceremony: October 2025, Biomedical Engineering Society Conference, San Diego, California
NIBIB-sponsored prizes
- The Steven H. Krosnick Prize: $20,000
- Second prize: $15,000
- Third prize: $10,000
- OAR HIV/AIDS Prize: $15,000 (with funds from the NIH Office of AIDS Research)
- NIMHD Healthcare Technologies for Low-Resource Settings: $15,000 (with funds from the National Institute on Minority and Health Disparities)
- NCI Technologies for Cancer Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment Prize: $15,000 (with funds from the National Cancer Institute)
- NICHD Rehabilitative and Assistive Technologies for the Functional and Healthcare Needs of People with Physical Disabilities: $15,000 (with funds from the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)
- NINR Technologies to Empower Nurses in Community Settings: $15,000 (with funds from the National Institute of Nursing Research
- NIDDK Kidney Technology Development Prize $15,000 (with funds from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
- New! ORWH Technologies to Improve the Health of Women Prize: $15,000, (with funds from the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health)
- New! NIA Technologies to Foster Healthy Aging Prize: $15,000 (with funds from the National Institute on Aging)
- 5 Honorable Mentions will receive $1,000 each
In addition to monetary prizes:
- All NIH prize winners (including honorable mentions and non-U.S. citizen members of winning teams) will have the chance to partake in Phase 1 of a commercialization course, DEBUT Concept to Clinic: Commercialization-Innovation (dC3i), with didactic content and expert guidance covering the following concepts necessary to commercialize healthcare solutions: unmet need, value proposition, interviewing, proof-of-concept testing, regulatory, reimbursement, and milestone-driven go-to-market strategy. Phase 1 of the dC3i program will culminate in a final presentation to a group of business advisors who will provide feedback.
- Of the teams that complete Phase 1, up to 3 teams will be offered, at NIBIB’s discretion, the chance to participate in Phase 2 of dC3i commercialization training. These teams will be selected based on the team’s completion of dC3i Phase 1, quality of the completed coursework and exercises, and effective participation in office hours, as evaluated by NIH staff.
- In addition, NIBIB will consider offering additional in-kind support to DEBUT prize winners, which may include an invitation to tour the NIH campus. However, such additional in-kind support is not guaranteed and will only be provided at the discretion of NIBIB.
VentureWell-sponsored prizes
- Venture prize: $10,000
- Design Excellence prize: $5,000
- New! Rising Star Prize: $5,000
Important Announcements
- DEBUT is a team challenge. Projects must be submitted by Student Teams of at least three students but not more than eight students. Each student on the Student Team must satisfy all the requirements for competing in this Challenge. Interdisciplinary teams including students from different departments/colleges are welcome and encouraged to enter the challenge. For applications from institutions that have a biomedical engineering or bioengineering department, at least one student on the team must be majoring in biomedical engineering or bioengineering. The requirement of at least one biomedical engineering or bioengineering major is waived for student teams from institutions without a formal biomedical engineering or bioengineering department.
- All team members must be undergraduate students enrolled full-time in an undergraduate curriculum during at least one full semester (or quarter if the institution is on a quarter system) of the 2024-2025 academic year. Any student who does not meet the full-time student status requirement due to a disability or medical condition can request special accommodation by contacting the NIBIB DEBUT Manager (DEBUTinfo@nih.gov);
- Each Student Team may submit only one entry into this Challenge through the Team Captain. The Team Captain will register here and follow the links and instructions to certify that the entry meets all the Challenge rules and submit the Student Team's entry on behalf of the Student Team. At this time, teams will have the option to indicate that they wish to have their entries also considered for prizes sponsored by VentureWell.
See the DEBUT Participation Rules and Guidelines for details.
Read the Complete DEBUT 2025 Announcement
DEBUT Details
Read more information about the DEBUT Challenge:
Additional Information:
For more information and to submit entries, visit the DEBUT page.
Related News
The National Institutes of Health and the higher education non-profit VentureWell have selected 11 winners and five honorable mentions in the Design by Biomedical Undergraduate Teams (DEBUT) Challenge, who are set to receive prizes totaling $160,000.
NIBIB is marking the 10-year anniversary of a commercialization program that helps innovators bring their medical devices from the lab to the marketplace.
A team of Johns Hopkins biomedical engineering undergraduates took home a $15,000 prize at the National Institutes of Health’s 2023 Design by Biomedical Undergraduate Teams (DEBUT) Challenge, which seeks innovative solutions to unmet health needs. Source: Johns Hopkins University
Two teams of UC San Diego undergraduate bioengineering students won Design by Biomedical Undergraduate Teams (DEBUT) awards from the National Institutes of Health. Source: UC San Diego
Now in its 12th year, the DEBUT Challenge calls on teams of undergraduate students to produce technological solutions to a broad spectrum of unmet health needs.