What is The Inform Prize?
Launched in 2014 and funded by Intelligent Plant to encourage students to think about how they might communicate their ideas and research findings to local employers, and promote interaction between industry and academia.
Students are tasked with creating a digital solution to a real life problem. A panel of judges are presented with videos
by the students which demonstrate their teams product in action.
Teams also take part in a question and answer session before the judges go on to decide who the winners are.
Get your University Involved!
We want to expand The Inform Prize to other universities
The Inform Prize started with the University of Aberdeen.
In 2023, Robert Gordon University joined the Aberdeen event. As of 2025, we welcome all Glasgow universities
to compete in this year's Inform Prize Glasgow event.
Our goal is to continue expanding the Inform Prize, giving more students in more cities the opportunity to showcase their skills to industry and to promote Scotland's talent to the world.
If you think that your university would be interested
in competing next year, we'd love to chat.
Get your Company Involved!
To expand The Inform Prize,
we need partner companies
Behind the Inform Prize event, there is a team that is planning and preparing all the details required to help
the day run smoothly.
To continue expansion, it is important that we gather
a number of partner companies that share a similar
desire to showcase our local student talent and are
keen to get involved.
If you think your company could help with the running of future Inform Prize events, please get in touch.
Inform Prize 2024 - Aberdeen - Video Highlights
What do Universities Say?
"The whole event was excellent. I was immediately struck by the ‘local derby’ energy in the room, with the two universities engaged in a bit of friendly competition. Meanwhile, the engagement with industry guests was brilliant to see, with local employers showing genuine interest in the students’ work, and the students doing a fantastic job of communicating their ideas.
"I came away from the Inform Prize wondering why we don’t have something like this in Glasgow – or, indeed, across Scotland. If we could replicate the energy, enthusiasm, and engagement that Steve Aitken and the team have created in Aberdeen (complete with that ‘local derby rivalry!) we’d surely be on to a winner when it comes to promoting interaction between industry and academia, and seeding innovation in our tech sector as a result – not to mention developing a generation of computing professionals with the skills required to successfully pitch and develop their ideas."
- Matthew Barr, Head of Section and Program Director, University of Glasgow
Discussing his experience of The Inform Prize
The University of Aberdeen has been involved in The Inform Prize since its inception. Our students that compete in The Inform Prize are in their third year, which presents the perfect opportunity to put all they have learned up to that point into practice. Their interactions before, during, and after the event offer a unique opportunity to have direct contact with industry and gives them first-hand experience on designing, marketing, and presenting their product.
- Dr Matthew Collinson, Head of Computing Science
School of Natural and Computing Sciences, University of Aberdeen
