Are you passionate about big ideas and making real impact? Join the 2025 Bowater Business Challenge!
Attention undergraduate business students! Want to develop your problem-solving skills, employability and industry networks? Then the Deakin Bowater Business Challenge (DBBC) is for you!
The challenge
The DBBC is open to all current undergraduate business students. Working in teams of four, you’ll research and develop a presentation on the future of a selected industry.
This year’s theme is: ‘Marketing for Impact: Empowering Futures through the Mahoney Enterprise Scholarship (MES) Program’.
This challenge is a chance to put your skills into practice to create and present a standout marketing strategy that promotes the MES Program. The goal of the marketing strategy is to attract eligible scholarship applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds who align with the program’s mission of inclusive entrepreneurship.
The Bowater Trust is kindly providing a $7500 prize pool.
- 1st Prize $3,000
- 2nd Prize $2,000
- 3rd Prize $1,500
- 4th Prize $1,000
Interested? Here’s how it works
Eligibility
The DBBC is open to all current undergraduate business students enrolled for Trimester 2 2025. If you’re a postgraduate student and like the sound of this competition, stay tuned – there will be another Bowater Business Challenge for you in Trimester 1 2026.
You can enter as a team of up to four people or as an individual. If any groups don’t have the required four members, we’ll assign individual entrants to those teams.
Timeline
- Friday 8 August, 10am–12pm: Briefing session online via Zoom. (Meeting ID 824 5642 2301, Passcode 42684250) MES representatives and Deakin academics will outline the challenge and answer your questions.
- Monday 11 August, 5pm: The briefing session recording will be made available to students who register for the challenge up to 18 August 2025.
- Monday 18 August, 5pm: Entries close.
- Tuesday 19 August: Teams announced on rolling basis (where possible) and all teams confirmed by 19 August.
- Thursday 28 or Friday 29 August, 1–4pm: Registered teams compete in the virtual Preliminary Round, where a University panel will rank each team’s 10-minute presentation.
- Friday 29 August, 5pm: Four finals teams announced and assigned an academic mentor.
- Tuesday 9 September, 3–6pm: Challenge final in person at Burwood Corporate Centre. Judging panel will consist of a MES representative, Deakin Academics and a Bowater Trust Member. Winning team will be announced at the networking session after final presentations.
Remember: winning teams will score cash prizes and you might even impress a potential employer!
Applications and more information
Interested? Applications close on Monday 18 August, 5pm. Apply online now!
Need more info or have a question? Join us at the briefing session, email bl-se@deakin.edu.au or visit the Deakin Bowater Business Challenge webpage.
You could be part of the next winning team!