Applications for the 2019 Christophe Pralong award are now open! The prize in prospect: up to 10,000 francs to help the students carry out a social, entrepreneurial or academic project in an emerging or developing country. Participation is open to all Bachelor, Master and doctoral students at HEC Lausanne, as well as other UNIL faculties, universities and Ecole Polytechniques Fédérales (EPF) in Switzerland.
An award for targeted, concrete solutions
All initiatives are welcome in addition to humanitarian projects, including case studies of an academic nature, or placements with international organisations or local NGOs. The project can be an integral part of studies, particularly in the context of a Master dissertation, thereby allowing the student in question to earn credits. Last year, the award recipients were both studying at HEC Lausanne: Amin Kasimov (solar lamp kit in Senegal) and Roxane Dumont (sunglasses for the Afar population in Ethiopia).
The Prix Pralong, a reference
The Prix Pralong was established to honour the memory of Christophe Pralong, president of the HEC Lausanne students’ Committee, who graduated in 1980. To date, it has financed 18 projects, including the donation of computers to schoolchildren in Casamance (Senegal), the establishment of cinemas in Madagascar and the construction of a warehouse for medicinal plants in Vietnam. Watch the video
According to Christian Filippini, General Secretary of the Prix : “the Prix Pralong serves to encourage students conscious of their responsibility – and leaders of tomorrow – to use their knowledge to this end: make the world a better place, while at the same time benefiting from practical experience at a professional and human level.”
Applications may be submitted until 4 April 2019. Interested parties take note!