MIT Solve runs annual Global Challenges that seek innovative, human-centered, tech-based solutions to global problems. Through open innovation, Solve looks for a diverse portfolio of solutions across geography and stage of development, and encourages people of all backgrounds to apply. Teams selected through a Challenge become Solvers.
2027 Global Challenges:
| Challenge | Question |
|---|---|
| Global Learning | How can we close global education gaps while improving outcomes for every learner? |
| Global Climate | How can we equitably adapt to a warming climate and decarbonize how we live and eat? |
| Global Health | How can we use technology to make good health and quality care more equitable for all? |
| Global Economic Prosperity | How can we expand access to quality work, affordable housing, and financial resilience so that more people can build lasting prosperity? |
All four Challenges accept solutions from September 22, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. EDT to November 6, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. EST.
Who should apply:
Solve reviews solutions at the Prototype stage or later. A Prototype is an initial working version of a solution that may be getting initial feedback or testing with users. Concept-stage ideas are reviewed only under the separate Indigenous Communities Fellowship. Solutions can be at the Prototype, Pilot, Growth, or Scale stage.
What Solvers receive:
Solver teams receive an average of $40k each following selection, from a pool of more than $1M in prize funding, with further funding opportunities during the program year and after. Solvers join a nine-month support program that includes tailored capacity-building workshops, leadership coaching, in-kind and pro bono resources such as software licenses and legal services, monitoring and evaluation support, and a network of impact-minded leaders, including MIT.
Time commitment:
Selected Solver teams should expect approximately 25 hours over nine months, plus attendance at separate flagship events. The challenge FAQ describes four days at Solver Orientation in Cambridge in April and four days at Solve Challenge Finals in New York City in September. The application PDF instead names April 14–15, 2027 for orientation and says travel assistance is provided. These differing event-duration descriptions are disclosed; the orientation dates are not the start/end of the full nine-month program.
Official sources:
- 2027 Global Learning Challenge
- 2027 Global Climate Challenge
- 2027 Global Health Challenge
- 2027 Global Economic Prosperity Challenge
Dates and eligibility checked November 4, 2026: all four challenge timelines now publish November 6, 2026 at noon EST. The official application PDF agrees in its opening instructions and submission reminder but retains a November 2 sentence in a later section. No explanation of that change is inferred.
The same PDF publishes geographic restrictions. Its introductory instructions exclude ordinarily resident applicants in Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Russia, Belarus, Crimea, and the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic regions of Ukraine, plus US Treasury-blocked parties. A later profile-country paragraph also includes Syria but does not name Donetsk/Luhansk. These sections publish different geographic eligibility lists; neither is asserted to supersede the other. The checked materials do not state an application fee amount.