One cycle.
Four ways in.
Three cities.
This is the hub for the 2026 GQC programme: how the six months run, which track to choose, what the Learning Experience actually asks of you, and where the live chapters take place. If you only read one page besides Eligibility, read this one.
From open call to the GQC Medal.
Choose the door that matches the work, not the prize.
Software, machine learning, data or hardware against a defined problem. Jurors run the prototype. You write an honest technical note and an ethics page. Past work: clinic triage, school-district energy models.
A message, a campaign or a service design. Judges look for a named audience, a behaviour you intend to change, and evidence that anyone moved. Past work: quiet-hours libraries, peer-counselling lines, refill schemes.
Twenty-four teams nominated by partner schools, alumni and former finalists. They skip the open round and present to the senior jury at the Global Final, after a compressed Learning Experience.
City winners and wildcards — twenty-four teams — in New York on 5–6 December for the Founder’s Prize, Research Prize, Impact Prize and the GQC Medal.
Not a crash pitch camp.
Shortlisted teams join the Learning Experience: framing in weeks 1–2, primary and secondary research in weeks 3–5, intervention design in weeks 6–8, defence rehearsal in weeks 9–10, then the city showcase. Cohorts are capped so mentors can read. Every team receives two structured written critiques before they fly. The six-minute pitch is the last artefact, not the first.
What “good” looks like by August is not a polished deck. It is an evidence pack a stranger can audit, a prototype or campaign artefact a stranger can use, and a team that can say what the evidence does not support. That standard is the same in Hong Kong, London and New York; the rubric is published in full.
GQC is venture-building plus a learning experience, not a science-fair qualifier. If you are choosing among ISEF, Conrad, FIRST and others, start with The Field. If you are choosing among our own pages, the next three to read are Eligibility, Judging, and the track that matches your work.
Optional critique of a one-page brief. Independent of judging.
Universities, civic bodies and industry benches that stage each city.
Who writes the brief, who scores, how conflicts are handled.
What we issue and how anyone can verify it.
Brief, map, trail, debrief — already on the columns.
Four training artefacts live on existing pages. They do not add a new top-level item. 2026 applications closed 22 May. Remaining published stages: London, New York, Global Final.
- Problem brief demonstration — problem, affected party, materials, assumptions, team fit.
- Claim–evidence map — against Problem 20 / Research 25 / Solution 25 / Impact 20 / Communication 10.
- Prototype trail — task, iteration, test, contribution, review.
- City-week debrief — project progress vs floor notes. Hong Kong dates passed as published schedule only.
Project progress and floor notes in two columns.
As of 4 October 2026: Hong Kong 9–13 September has passed its published dates (published schedule only). London 21–25 October, New York 11–15 November, and the Global Final 5–6 December remain ahead. This template does not invent Hong Kong results. Unique role of this site: a three-city innovation award.
| Project progress (team) | Floor observation (process) | |
|---|---|---|
| Before Opening Symposium | What still does not run without a miracle? | Hotel / first check-in as written in the city pack. Not a result. |
| Jury day | Which of the five published lines did the six-minute defence actually serve? | Pass holders only. Parents are not in the room. Timing: 6 + 12. |
| Saturday exhibit | Could a walk-up visitor repeat who you spoke to? | Public floor. Not judging. Handout matches the pack, or it does not. |
| Sunday ceremony | One change you will make before the next published city or the Final. | Invite only. Global Finalist naming, if it happens, is a later public notice — not this worksheet. |
Same worksheet on Events. Venues on Events (M+ / HKUST / Cyberport; Somerset House / Imperial / White City; NYU Kimmel / Stern / Newlab) are first-party published locations.