What is the Provost's Innovation Challenge?

If you care about social justice, fairness, and creating change, this is your chance to step up. During one high-paced, fun, creative day, you’ll team up with other curious, impact-driven students to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges.

This isn’t just a hackathon — it’s a space to challenge the status quo, share bold ideas, and design solutions that could genuinely improve student life. Whether you're into problem-solving, activism, design, tech, or just passionate about making things better, you’ll find your place here.
Expect:
•    A fun, collaborative hackathon atmosphere 
•    Support from mentors 
•    Space to think creatively and work on solutions to global problems 
•    The chance to turn your ideas into real-world impact 

And yes — there’s cash for the most innovative solution, with catering provided throughout the day. Come for the cause, stay for the experience — and leave having built something that matters.

The next Provost’s Innovation Challenge will take place on Saturday 3rd October 2026. You’ll be able to sign up as soon as teaching commences. 

We know our students want to make a positive impact on their society, and the world around them, and that’s what the Provost’s Challenge is all about. Trinity has a long-standing commitment to social innovation, which is crucial to addressing some of the most pressing issues facing society today, and to preventing global crises of the future.

As part of this, the Provost’s Innovation Challenge will provide a fun and creative environment for teams of students to work on solutions to real-world problems, while competing for a cash prize. This is also a great opportunity to meet new people, and students from different disciplines.

In 2021, the College community voted to make clothing production more sustainable, and the year before the social problem hacked was excessive reliance on plastics. This year focus will be “Student Accommodation”