Build54 Undergraduate Prize in Biology/Biotechnology 2025

Africa faces unique biological and biotechnological challenges requiring specialized solutions: endemic diseases like malaria and tuberculosis need new therapeutic approaches, agricultural systems require drought-resistant and nutrient-rich crop varieties, limited laboratory infrastructure demands innovative computational and low-cost experimental methods, and the continent's vast biodiversity remains understudied and underutilized. 

Students must demonstrate how innovations in computational biology, bioinformatics, synthetic biology, drug discovery, or agricultural biotechnology can address critical health, food security, and environmental challenges while working within the constraints of available resources and infrastructure in African research environments.

The Best Undergraduate Final Year Project in Biology/Biotechnology recognizes exceptional biological research and biotechnological innovations from Africa's emerging life scientists. This challenge seeks projects that apply biological sciences to address health, agricultural, and environmental challenges facing African communities.

We welcome projects in computational biology for disease research, bioinformatics for genomic analysis of African populations, synthetic biology for novel solutions, drug discovery focusing on endemic diseases, agricultural biotechnology for crop improvement, and environmental biotechnology for sustainability. Projects should demonstrate strong scientific methodology while addressing practical challenges.

Successful submissions will show mastery of biological concepts, rigorous experimental design, innovative use of computational tools, and clear applications to real-world problems. Whether you're developing computational models for malaria drug resistance, creating bioinformatics pipelines for African genome analysis, engineering microorganisms for bioremediation, or improving crop varieties through biotechnology, we want to see life sciences applied to critical challenges.

Projects should consider the unique biological diversity of Africa, endemic health challenges, agricultural needs, and the potential for biotechnology to drive development. We particularly value research that could lead to locally produced biologics, improved food security, or better understanding of African-specific health conditions.