Participate in the Laurie Dake Challenge competition

If you happen to be working with a diverse group of fellow students that would like to test their knowledge and team working skills, the Laurie Dake Challenge may be for you!

The Laurie Dake Challenge is one of EAGE’s most prestigious student competitions. It requires participants to excel in some of the key areas of EAGE’s mission: multidisciplinary group work, data integration, and the honing of your project management, cooperation, and presentation skills.

As a leading competition within the Association, the challenge will require teams to be inquisitive, innovative, and analytical thinkers. Each year, the dataset poses new challenges throughout the three rounds.

Participating teams:

• Have a shot at winning the EAGE Laurie Dake Challenge trophy
• Gain exposure to leading experts in the industry
• Finalists will have the chance to participate in the EAGE Annual Conference & Exhibition
• Gain hands-on experience with valuable datasets from real hydrocarbon fields

How to participate in the Laurie Dake Challenge

Universities are invited to participate in the Laurie Dake Challenge with a multidisciplinary team of 3 to 5 students (one PhD student per team allowed). The competition includes three selection rounds that are further explained below.

To enter the competition each team is required to submit an assignment on a certain topic.

The application round for the 2027 competition will open soon. The organisation or individual responsible for providing the technical assignment is still to be confirmed. 

The finals will be held at the EAGE Annual Conference in Amsterdam (The Netherlands) in 2027.

The Laurie Dake Challenge is sponsored by the EAGE student Fund.

TOPIC OF THE CHALLENGE 2027

TBC

What to expect

The challenge consists of three rounds. After each round a number of teams will be allowed to continue until we reach the third and final round where six teams will have the chance to present their solutions.

Application

To ensure a successful application you should be aware of the rules and procedures, including the rules on use of AI, of the Laurie Dake challenge. 

Next to your application, you must attach a signed ‘Declaration of Academic Integrity‘ and a Motivational Letter.

Please provide a motivation letter of no more than two pages, with the following information below to determine if your team will be successful in evaluating this project. The letter should contain the following:

• Team Introduction:
  • A brief presentation of the team members, their academic backgrounds, and shared interests
• Motivation to Participate:
  • The reasons why the team wishes to take part in the challenge.
• Team Vision:
  • TBC

You will have more chances to prepare the submission of the assignment as soon as you apply to the challenge.

If you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact us at students@eage.org

Selection Round 1 – Exploration assignment

Each team participating in the competition will receive a technical assignment, which will be shared once the topic and dataset have been confirmed.

The 2027 edition of the Laurie Dake Challenge will focus on a technical topic related to the energy industry, to be confirmed by the Local Advisory Committee. The challenge will provide participating students with the opportunity to work on a real-world industry problem, applying their technical knowledge and skills to develop solutions based on the assignment and dataset provided.

Participants are encouraged to explore innovative subsurface and strategic approaches that promote a more efficient, sustainable, and economically viable field development plan.

At the end of the first round, the ten best teams will be selected for the next round of the competition.

Selection Round 2 – Assignment submission

The remaining teams will be asked to use the assignment to create a 3-minute video pitch and a maximum 3000-word report, including images, to describe and provide evidence of their proposed development plan for the area.

Based on these submissions, the Laurie Dake Challenge jury will select the 3 finalists that will be invited to compete in Round 3.

Selection Round 3 – Presentation of full development plans

EAGE invites the 3 finalist university teams to present their findings to an expert Laurie Dake Challenge jury. The presentations will be judged by 8 to 10 jury members, all with their expertise.