Bowater Business Challenge
The Deakin Bowater Business Challenge (DBBC) is a fun and exciting competition open to all Deakin business and law students. A postgraduate challenge is held in Trimester 1 and an undergraduate challenge in Trimester 2.
How it works
As the competition is open to all undergraduate business and law students, we encourage you to have a diverse team made up of different courses, majors and backgrounds. You can also apply individually and be placed into a team by the organisers.
Registered teams attend a briefing session to understand the challenge and then compete in a preliminary round to demonstrate their innovation and problem-solving skills. Each team will give a 10-minute oral presentation to a judging panel via Zoom. Four teams are then chosen from the preliminary round to participate in the ultimate final. The four finalist teams will be assigned an academic mentor to support them in the lead up to the final submission.
Future events
Postgraduate Business Challenge – Trimester 1, 2025
Applications will open in March 2025
Undergraduate Business Challenge – Trimester 2, 2025
Applications will open in July 2025
Typical timelines
| Task | Postgraduate (Masters) | Undergraduate (Bachelors) |
|---|---|---|
| Apply Enter as a team of up to 4 OR as an individual. Organisers will try and add individuals to form a team of 4. We encourage teams to be diverse with a mix of courses, majors and expertise. | March | July |
| Teams of 4 confirmed. Maximum 15 teams. | April | July |
| Briefing session online Two hour session involving industry partner and academics who outline challenge in more detail. | April | August |
| Prelim Round - Online Each team has 10 minutes to present solution to a panel of judges. | April/May | August/September |
| Four finalist teams assigned academic mentor. | April/May | August/September |
| Four finalist teams attend site visit subject to challenge needs. | May | September |
| Final Finalist teams present solution to panel of judges and audience in person at a Deakin Corporate Centre. | May | September |
