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About Nesta

Nesta is a research and innovation foundation. We apply our deep expertise in applied methods to design, test and scale solutions to some of the biggest challenges of our time, working across the innovation lifecycle.

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A guide to historical challenge prizes

Find out about the weird and wonderful heritage of challenge prizes with this fun, fact-packed guide to ten past challenges.

With the arrival of Longitude Prize, we look back through the history of challenge prizes, from the genius of John Harrison and his marine chronometer, to the bravery of Charles Lindbergh's first cross-atlantic flight.

These ten examples cover a diverse range of moments in history when a challenge prize has been created to inspire a solution to a problem. They don't always work, and not all of the ideas are perfect, but they all demonstrate important attempts to change things for the better.

Ever wondered how margarine was invented? Or how the concept of canning was discovered? Of course not, but here's your chance to find out regardless!

Discover more about these prizes below and visit our Challenge Prize Centre.

British Longitude prize

The Alkali Prize

The French Food Preservation Prize

Turbine Prize

The Rainhill Trials

Substitute for Guano Prize

The Billiard Ball Prize

The Napoleon III Butter Substitute Prize

The Schneider Cup

The Orteig Prize

A powerful ecosystem for innovation

We extend our impact through two specialised units that help people and organisations to solve complex problems and achieve their goals.

BIT

BIT helps clients from government, nonprofits and the private sector to improve people’s lives through our empirical problem solving and deep understanding of human behaviour.

Challenge Works

Challenge Works designs and runs challenge prizes to spark innovation in science, technology and society.

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