If AI is used, it must be declared, and anything that is submitted must be both the intellectual property (for copyright reasons) and the responsibility (for legal and evaluation reasons) of the participant. If an AI generates anything false or defamatory the author bears all the responsibility. Similarly, whilst AI can be used bear in mind that the Expert Judges may take this into account in their scoring, and may have a distaste for AI generated works.

Any use of AI to aid in writing comments should be divulged, and all comments should include a substantial human-generated element, and should not solely be written by AI.

• Entries will be accepted via FQxI's submission form from June 23, 2025, to September 29, 2025, at 10:00 AM US Eastern Time.
• You will need to create an FQxI QSpace Forums account if you don't already have one.
• When you decide to enter is up to you, but keep in mind that earlier entries will have more time for public reading and discussion, to gain ratings, and also to establish priority in print for novel ideas.
• Essays received on or near the deadline will be posted in batches up to 15 business days after the Competition ends, possibly later if there are many last-minute entries. Late entries could have as little as 1 day online before the voting period closes.

Only entries submitted through the submission form will be accepted.

Please plan to submit your essay well before the deadline to ensure a smooth submission process. We cannot respond to requests for help after September 24 at 10 AM US Eastern Time. Plan ahead!

Yes, you can save a draft application on the submission form by clicking "Save" and return to it later.

If you don't receive an email immediately from FQxI after submitting your essay, please check your spam filter. If it's not there, then please contact FQxI.

Competition Entrants will receive a notification regarding eligibility within 15 business days of submitting an essay. The essay will be reviewed for rule compliance. If the essay is approved, it will be posted within this time. If 15 business days have passed since you received your confirmation email and your essay is still not posted, please check your spam folder. If the email is not there, please contact FQxI, with your inquiry.

If you are among the first to submit your essay, please note that we will wait until there are 10 or more eligible entries before posting to the Competition Entries page.

Essay Eligibility section on the Competition Rules page to better understand why an essay was deemed ineligible.

The essays will be judged according to the Evaluation Criteria (relevance, interest level, rigor, and accessibility) on the Competition Rules page.

No. The Essay Competition guidance on the Introduction and Rules page will be the sole material provided to entrants, and the basis upon which essays will be judged.

Yes, you can do so after the Competition has ended on or around December 15, 2025 and the Essay Author names have been revealed. This is necessary to preserve the anonymity of authors. If your essay wins a prize, please consult with FQxI about publishing it elsewhere.

Cash Prizes: There will be up to $53,000 in cash prizes awarded in this Competition. The Expert Judges can award multiple or no winners in each of the prize categories:

• First Prize: US$10,000 each
• Second Prize: US$5,000 each
• Third Prize: US$2,000 each
• Fourth Prize: US$1,000 each
• Discretionary Prizes: as determined by the judges

Non-Cash Prizes:

• Member Nomination: In addition to the cash prizes, First Prize Winners will receive a nomination for FQxI Membership. Please note: a nomination does not guarantee Membership. First Prize Winners will be vetted through FQxI's Member nomination process to ensure they meet the qualifications for Membership.
• Possible publication: Springer will consider adapted material from the winning essays for possible publication. Previous publications of FQxI Competition winners are available from FQxI's Bookshop.

There are no formal qualifications; however, we reserve the right to decline entry of essays not satisfying minimal criteria of relevance and/or quality.

Please refer to the Eligibility section of the Competition Rules page.

FQxI expects community evaluators to vote based solely on the quality of the essay. Voting collusion or bartering, mass down-voting, and other such forms of "voter fraud" will not be tolerated, and participants in such will have (all) their votes discarded or in extreme cases, their essays disqualified. Entrants should alert FQxI with information if they witness any of these activities.

Entrants are also not allowed to solicit votes through mass forum commenting or emailing (i.e., spamming other contestants). FQxI views such behavior as a form of attempted voting collusion or bartering. This is true even if the message simply asks for a “fair vote” and does not explicitly promise return voting. Repetitive, cut-and-paste comments that do not attempt to engage with the content of the forum thread will be marked as spam and deleted.

As a rule, all forum commenting should follow FQxI’s forum guidelines for appropriate content. Please contact FQxI if you are unsure about the content of a post you are planning or that you find in the forums.