the sifr prize
an essay contest for science and technology in the Arab world
What should exist for science and technology in the Arab world, but doesn't?
Maybe it's a technology that needs to be built: something no one has made because the problem hasn't been articulated clearly enough, or because the people who understand the problem aren't the ones building tools. Maybe it's something that already exists but can't get deployed in the region, and the bottleneck itself requires technical thinking to solve. Either way, we want specifics: what's the problem, what's the science or engineering, and what does a realistic path forward look like.
To give a sense of what we mean: someone might write about building a federated database of rare genetic variants across Gulf populations, where high rates of consanguinity create both a massive disease burden and a unique scientific opportunity that doesn't exist anywhere else. Or about drought-resistant seed varieties that exist but can't reach Syrian farmers because the entire agricultural extension system collapsed, and what a realistic rebuild looks like. Or about why CRISPR-based diagnostics are transforming point-of-care testing everywhere except the Middle East, and what specific barriers are in the way. Or about why it takes six months to procure basic reagents in some Arab countries and what would actually fix that. These are just examples.
The best submissions will be about something we haven't thought of.
We'd rather get ten essays from people who've been thinking about this for years than a hundred from people who just heard about it.
- Format
- Paste your essay in the submission form or upload a PDF. We don't care about formatting.
- Eligibility
- Anyone. No nationality, age, or institutional requirements. You don't need to be from the region, but you do need to actually understand it.
- Judging
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Essays will be read by the organizer and a small number of scientists and technologists with experience in the region. We're looking at four things:
- Problem definition. Is this a real problem, and does it actually matter, or is it something that sounds impressive in a slide deck but doesn't change anyone's life if it gets fixed?
- Technical depth. Do you understand the science or engineering well enough to propose something that isn't hand-waving?
- Actionability. Could a small, motivated team actually start working on this, or does it require a government to move first?
- Originality. Are you seeing something that the reports and conferences have missed?
Vague calls for "more funding" or "better institutions" without saying how. General musings, policy papers, literature reviews, AI slop, or anything that reads like a homework assignment. Anything you could have written without ever setting foot in the region or talking to someone who has. We're also not interested in essays that describe a problem without proposing what to do about it. Diagnosis alone isn't enough.
The Arab world doesn't lack scientists or engineers. It lacks connective tissue. The people who understand the region's problems deeply (and could actually solve them) are scattered across universities, companies, and countries that don't talk to each other. Some are in the region. Many left. Most have no venue to contribute what they know, and no one is asking.
We think identifying the right problems is half the work, and finding the right people is the other half. This contest is how we start doing both.
This contest is run by Ubadah Sabbagh. Supported by him and some generous friends.