Call for Applications for the PRME Students Innovation Studio

Background

Recognizing the power of over 3 million students across its Signatory Members, PRME established the PRME Students community as a global platform to channel this collective energy toward. It advances PRME’s mission to transform management education by amplifying youth voices at the global level, equipping future leaders with the skills to turn bold ideas into real-world impact, and strengthening pathways to meaningful employment.

PRME is delighted to launch the PRME Students Innovation Studio, a global incubator that empowers interdisciplinary student teams to design and scale ventures aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Leveraging PRME’s presence in more than 90 countries, the Innovation Studio supports young innovators worldwide through mentorship, access to global networks, and opportunities to develop practical solutions that generate lasting social, environmental, and economic impact.

The Innovation Studio advances PRME Students’ pillars of Skills Development & Entrepreneurship and Career Readiness by equipping participants with hands-on, future-ready capabilities to build SDG-driven ventures, while connecting them to mentors, real-world projects, and global professional networks that strengthen employability and pathways into responsible careers.

This programme is delivered in partnership with the UN Global Compact SDG Innovation Accelerator for Young Professionals.

How the Innovation Studio Works

1. Interdisciplinary student teams between 3 to 5 people apply to join the Innovation Studio through an open call.

2. Applications are reviewed by the PRME Secretariat and successful applications are approved based on the strength of their SDG-aligned venture ideas and potential for impact.

3. Once accepted, teams are matched with mentors aligned to their sector, stage of development, and SDG focus. Mentors provide tailored guidance on design thinking, market validation, venture scaling, leadership development, and fundraising.

4. Once teams have progressed in their venture development, they intensify their pitch readiness with support from storytelling coaches and business model advisors, participating in internal rounds that culminate in semi-final evaluations to select finalists.

5. The programme concludes with a global pitch competition, where finalist teams present their ventures to academia, UN partners, and industry leaders at the PRME Global Forum.

6. Winning teams receive seed funding and ongoing mentorship to accelerate growth, while all finalists gain valuable exposure, network connections, and access to PRME’s global ecosystem to continue advancing their ventures.

Eligibility Criteria

Team Composition:

• Teams must include 2-5 members who are current students or recent graduates (within 1 year) from a PRME Signatory Institution.

• Teams can include members from different faculties or departments at the same university, as long as at least one member comes from a PRME Signatory faculty or school.

  • Example: If a university’s business school is a PRME Signatory, students from other departments (i.e., Political Science) at the same university may join the team.

• Teams can include recent alumni (within 1 year of graduation) as long as they were part of a PRME Signatory faculty, college, school, or university (i.e. the business/ management school).
  *Female teams are highly encouraged to submit.

Project Focus:

• The project or venture must directly contribute to one or more SDGs, demonstrating clear potential for social, environmental, or economic impact.

Commitment:

• Participants must commit to the approximately three-month hybrid programme (March - June 2026), including mentorship sessions, milestone submissions, and progress reviews.

Timeline:

• Call for Applications Launch: First week of January, 2026

• Application Deadline: January 31, 2026

• Selected Teams Announced: Mid February, 2026

• Programme Start/Announcement at CSW: Early March, 2026

• Mentorship Phase: March to June, 2026

• Semi-Finals (Virtual): End of April, 2026

• Finals (Cairo, Egypt, PRME Global Forum): End of June, 2026

Access the Terms of Reference

Apply by 31 January, 2026 (Please note this application requires a Gmail login. If you do not have a Gmail account, please email students@unprme.org)