Win a free ticket to join the summer school Food For Mars and Moon

Update: congratulation to the winners!

Wageningen, 31 May 2023

We are happy to announce the contestants who have won a free ticket to the Summer School:

Lu Yingji
Can Jiang
Haonan Zhao
Agustin Iberlucea Saglietto
Alvaro Ropero
Guillaume Gégo
Nuofan Gao
Serena Bordignon
Costanza Torchia
Malachai Uys

Congratulations! We look forward to welcoming you on 10 July 2023!
Zhen Liu, Programme Manager and Wieger Wamelink, course leader

The challenge

Migration to planet Mars, is it just a daydream or a twilight of the next leap for mankind? With the fast developments in the space science and agrifood domain, it seems this dream is getting closer. But, what are we going to eat?

We invite you to join our challenge! Can you come up with an innovative idea for producing food on Mars and Moon? Ideas can be related to any aspect of space agriculture, including, but not limited to, cultivation techniques, plant selection, food processing, and nutrition. Submissions can take the form of a written proposal or a multimedia presentation. With your input and that of others across the globe, we inspire each other with new approaches to space food solutions. We are looking forward to your contribution!

The prize

The winner of the challenge will receive a free ticket to attend the Summer School Food on the Moon and Mars, which includes joining a global experiment with course leader and partners at different locations in the Netherlands, China and the USA…

For whom

The challenge is open to anyone with a scientific education in agriculture, biology and space science and to anyone with an interest in space and space farming.

How to apply

You can submit your innovative idea before 20 April 2023 to register.wageningenacademy@wur.nl.

Submissions should include the following:

• A brief description of the idea (no more than 500 words or a video presentation of no more than 5 minutes)
• A short bio of the participant (no more than 200 words)
• Your name, e-mail address and nationality

Selection process

Submissions will be reviewed by a panel of judges, consisting of experts in space agriculture. The judges will evaluate the submissions based on the following criteria:

• Originality and creativity
• Feasibility and practicality
• Relevance to space agriculture

Notification

Winners will be notified by e-mail no later than 12 May 2023. The name of the winner will also be announced on the challenge website and social media platforms.