Each year SCI run its Bright SCIdea competition which gives students the opportunity to hone and showcase their business talent.
The teams of student entrepreneurs gather at SCI’s London headquarters to pitch their innovative business concepts. Bright SCIdea offers participants a platform to showcase their creativity and commercial insight through both a poster exhibition and a live pitching competition. The event culminates in the selection of a winning team, which is awarded a £5,000 first prize.
The winners of Bright SCIdea 2026, Team AvennaX, impressed the judging panel with their pitch for an advanced computational platform designed for protein structural analysis. In second place, Team CheGo presented an innovative add‑on sensor system for catheters, designed to enhance precision and improve outcomes in medical applications. Team MediKeto secured third place, travelling from Tokyo, Japan, to participate in the competition. Their proposal centred on a mobile app that supports the management of a sustainable ketogenic diet. You can find the full report on the Bright SCIdea 2026 final here.
This year’s competition also marked a milestone for international engagement, with participants. Joining Team MediKeto on the international stage were Team QROOT, which advanced to the pitching finals with their novel approach to agricultural analysis using quantum dot techniques to assess soil samples.
C&I spoke to some of the teams after the event to find out more about their experience of the day.
Team CheGo
C&I: What are the main things you took away from attending Bright SCIdea?
Yunseo Lee: “The questions that the judges asked made us think about how we were going to manufacture the prototypes of our idea. We received a lot of advice from medical students and other attendees that will help us to create the product in its physical form.”
Cheyenne Gracias: “There are a lot of areas of improvement that we did not originally see in our idea, but by engaging with people in multidisciplinary areas, this helped us to identify areas to improve on. It was also great to see other people’s ideas, which we don’t get a chance to do outside of an event like this.”
What advice would you give a team who are applying next year?
Hita Dunukunala: “To definitely apply to it. Get a team together that have different areas of expertise. Also, enjoy the experience and go for it. All of us are undergraduate students, and we had the determination. It really pushed us to learn more about science and the business side of everything that has to be done.”
Team MediKeto
What are the main things you took away from attending Bright SCIdea?
Eleina Hames: “It was really great being a part of Bright SCIdea. The atmosphere and the energy that each team brought to the event was great. Each team in their own specific field found their own niches, their own problems that they needed to solve, and it was really inspiring and incredibly motivating to be amongst these teams that were pitching, presenting posters, and also networking. We got a lot of valuable feedback from industry experts as well, so overall, these were great takeaways.”
Nano Kojima: “We also learned a lot from the process of preparing for the event. Even if it’s just an idea, bringing it to life, we learned that it’s not an easy jump. This contest really helped us accelerate turning our idea into action. We felt like coming here was very valuable.”
What advice would you give a team who are applying next year?
Eleina Hames: “It was emphasised by the judges, but having a coherent narrative that pushes your pitch forward, and express to others that you know your target market. For international participants who may be hesitant to apply, we would say take the risk and apply.” What did you bring from your international experience, and what have you got to take back?
Eleina Hames: “What we look to take back with us is the experience to be able to normalise putting yourself out there as students, even in these scientific and professional level issues where we can help deal with needs and develop solutions.”
“We feel as though this event has made us much more interconnected with other international students, and we are excited to collaborate and share advice across borders.”
Team QROOT
What advice would you give a team who are applying next year?
Gergo Meszaros: “Get a team that you enjoy working with and focus on a problem that you feel would benefit society in everyday life. Find a solution that is simple enough to pitch to the judges, but be creative enough to make your idea unique. We came into this competition with the intention of attempting to get our idea across, and we got to the final and we were able to present our idea.”
Kaden Ethan Tan: “Take this as a journey and be sure to listen. From being a part of this process, trying to cover the ideas, and seeing what’s important in the world right now, and how these problems can be solved. It’s a fulfilling experience, and you might as well enjoy it.”
What did you bring from your international experience, and what have you got to take back?
Kaden Ethan Tan: “Having an international community is important. It’s very refreshing to have this experience having come over from North America. We have gotten a lot of inspiration from the competition, and it’s been eye-opening to see the kinds of things that people are doing at various stages of their academic careers.”
Further reading on Bright SCIdea
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