Research Revolution Challenge 2026

• No coding experience required — all approaches welcome
• Win up to $25,000 and launch your research product 
• Build your resume with real AI + health experience
• Interdisciplinary teams — meet faculty and students from across UWF

More than $40,000 in prizes

• Grand Prize (1st place): $25,000 
• 2nd and 3rd Place
• Best Interdisciplinary Team: Strongest cross-college collaboration 
• Best Community Team: Strongest community partnership collaboration
• OUR Project Awards: Top 2-3 undergraduates awarded up to $750 in materials/supplies to continue their project
• OUR Travel Awards: Top 2-3 undergraduates awarded up to $1,000 to present at a conference
• SURP (Summer Undergraduate Research Program): Top undergraduate offered 6-12 week paid summer research
• Graduate School Travel Awards: Top 2 graduate students awarded up to $750 each to present at a conference

Awards will be announced at the Faculty Awards Ceremony on November 19, 2026.

Non-Monetary Awards

• All finalists receive certificates of recognition
• Top 3 teams featured in UWF news and social media
• Invitation to present at UWF Student Scholars Symposium
• Opportunity to continue development through SURP, OUR Project Awards, or Center for Computational Intelligence partnerships

• Single broad topic ("Using AI to Address a Health Challenge")
• Interdisciplinary by design — teams must include at minimum one faculty and one student, members from at least two colleges/departments are strongly encouraged.
• Accessible to all skill levels (no-code, low-code, and code-based solutions welcome)
• Grounded in real community health needs
• Produces tangible, potentially deployable prototypes or proof-of-concepts

• Open to all currently employed UWF faculty and currently enrolled UWF students (undergraduate and graduate)
• Community partners may serve as advisors but not team members
• No prior AI experience required

• Team size: minimum of 2 members, including at least one faculty member and one student on each team
• Each faculty and student may only be on one team

(April 24, 2026-May 22, 2026)

• Teams register and submit a 1-page, 500 word maximum PDF Concept Brief covering:
• Problem statement with evidence of health need
• Proposed AI approach (what AI technique, why it fits)
• Preliminary data sources identified
• Team roster with majors/colleges and relevant skills
• List any community advisors including their name, title, affiliation, and email address

DUE May 22, 2026

**No prototype is required during Phase 1.

Submit PDF Concept Brief

(May 23, 2026-August 17, 2026)

• Teams develop their prototype/proof-of-concept
• Final submission deadline to include:

1. Technical Report (5–8 page PDF)

• Problem background and significance
• AI methodology and tools used
• Data sources (real, simulated, or publicly available)
• Results and evaluation metrics
• Ethical considerations and limitations
• Future development roadmap

      2. Working Prototype or Demo

• Functional demo (app, website, notebook, chatbot, dashboard, etc.)
• OR video walkthrough (max 3 minutes) if live demo is impractical
• Source code repository (GitHub) if applicable

      3. Recorded Video Presentation and Presentation file.

• All members of the team must participate in the presentation 
• The presentation should be no longer than 8 minutes total, including the functional demo or video walkthrough. 
• The submitted presentation should be used if invited for the Demo Day presentation, with slight modifications accepted 

DUE August 17, 2026

Review of submitted projects will occur from August 18, 2026-October 4, 2026. 

Invitations to present on Demo Day will be sent to advancing teams on October 5, 2026.

Projects will be scored against the following rubric by the WFRI Board. 

Scoring Rubric (Total: 100 points):

• Problem Significance (20 pts): 
• Is the health challenge clearly defined with evidence? 
• Is it relevant to real populations?
• Innovation & AI Application (25 pts): 
• Is the AI approach appropriate, creative, and technically sound? 
• Feasibility & Prototype (20 pts): 
• Is there a working demo, prototype, or compelling proof-of-concept? 
• Is the solution realistic to implement? 
• Impact & Scalability (15 pts): 
• Could this solution meaningfully improve health outcomes? 
• Can it scale beyond the prototype?
• Ethical Considerations (10 pts): 
• Does the team address bias, privacy, equity, and responsible AI use?
• Presentation Quality (10 pts): 
• Is the presentation clear, compelling, and well-structured?
• Presentation for Demo Day (10 pts): 
• Does the team handle Q&A effectively? 
• Replace presentation quality for Live Demo Day presentations