The Stanford Center on Longevity invites university students from around the world to compete to win the grand prize of $10,000 in the 2025-2026 Longevity Design Challenge, “Prevention by Design: Creating Healthy Lifestyles for Long Lives.”
Preventive health has become increasingly critical in the face of longer lives and rising chronic disease rates. The Stanford Center on Longevity’s New Map of Life envisions a future where health is not just about treating illness but about building lifestyle habits, and environments conducive to those habits, that increase resilience and improve well-being for people of all ages and backgrounds.
The 2025-2026 Stanford Center on Longevity Design Challenge invites student designers to create solutions (e.g., physical products, digital solutions, community programs or services) that empower individuals to lead healthier, longer lives through lifestyle factors such as sleep, nutrition, physical activity, mental health, social relationships, and financial health, particularly with approaches that are accessible, engaging, and adaptable to diverse needs and life stages.
Students from all majors/fields of study are encouraged to submit a design. Designs can be products, programs, apps, or services.
Examples of lifestyle or preventive health aspects that can be targeted include (but are not limited to):
- Sleep
- Nutrition
- Healthy eating
- Physical Activity / Movement / Exercise
- Social connection
- Stress management / Mental health
- Cognitive engagement
- Financial health
Benefits
Finalists will receive:
- $1,000 USD to help with prototyping and finals preparation.
- Mentorship from an experienced industry professional.
- Paid travel (limited) to the Finals at Stanford University in April 2026, conditions permitting.
Winners will receive:
- 1st place: $10,000 USD
- 2nd place: $5,000 USD
- 3rd place: $2,000 USD
All prizes are subject to 30% US federal tax withholding and 7% state withholding (if payment exceeds $1,500).
Application Process
- Create a design for a product, service, or program that addresses the challenge topic, “Prevention by Design: Creating Healthy Lifestyles for Long Lives”
- Submit your design (for free) any time before 1 December 2025
- 5-8 Finalist teams will be announced on 21 January 2026
- The Final competition will be held at Stanford University in April 2026 (conditions permitting)
Eligibility
- Each team must consist of at least one full-time student from any accredited institution of higher education anywhere in the world (can be undergraduate or graduate)
- Teams may have a total of up to 5 members, and may include non-students. Students may also compete alone, as a team of 1
- Only students are allowed to present
