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Aurelia Prize: Official Rules
Aurelia Prize in Design for Space Urbanism
2027 Cycle: Lunar Urbanism
1. Organizer
The Aurelia Prize in Design for Space Urbanism (the “Prize”) is organized and administered by Aurelia Institute, Inc., a nonprofit organization located in Cambridge, Massachusetts (“Aurelia”). By submitting an entry, each entrant agrees to these Official Rules (the “Rules”) and to the decisions of Aurelia and the jury. Those decisions are final and binding on all matters relating to the Prize.
2. Theme
The 2027 cycle invites design concepts for a sustained human presence on and around the Moon. Concepts may take any form. Examples include a surface base, a fleet of live-in rovers, a network of power or communications infrastructure, a resource-extraction outpost, a shared civic space within a growing settlement, or something not yet proposed. Concepts for lunar vehicles, spacecraft, or systems are eligible when they are presented as architecture: places or systems in which people live, work, or gather.
3. Timeline
Submissions open: October 27, 2026
Submission deadline: January 15, 2027 at 23:59 GMT
All entrants notified of finalist status: late February 2027
Winner announced: March 31, 2027 at Beyond the Cradle (MIT Media Lab)
Aurelia’s system clock is the official timekeeping device for the Prize. Entries received after the submission deadline will not be considered.
4. Eligibility
The Prize is open to individuals aged 18 or older at the time of entry, from any country, subject to Section 13 (Legal Compliance). Entrants may enter as individuals or as teams. There is no limit on team size. Each team must designate one primary submitter, who is the team’s sole point of contact and the recipient of any award payments, except as provided in Section 10.
The following are not eligible to enter: employees, officers, and directors of Aurelia; members of the jury; and the immediate family members and household members of any of these. A team is ineligible if any member is ineligible.
Entrants must disclose any personal or professional relationship with a member of the Prize jury or Aurelia’s staff at the time of entry. Undisclosed conflicts of interest may result in disqualification.
Each individual may be a member of only one team. Team composition, including the designation of the primary submitter, may not change after submission without Aurelia’s written approval. Aurelia will not approve the addition of new team members after the submission deadline.
5. How to Enter
Entries must be submitted through the official submission form at https://aurelia-prize.fillout.com/2027. Entries sent by email, mail, or any other method will not be accepted. Each individual or team may submit one entry. All submission materials must be in English.
Entries must be original work of the entrants.
Entrants may withdraw an entry by written notice to prize@aureliainstitute.org before February 15, 2027. Entry fees for withdrawn entries are not refunded. The license granted in Section 11 ends for future uses upon withdrawal, except for materials already published, exhibited, or distributed.
6. Entry Fee
The entry fee is $200 USD per entry. Individual undergraduate students, and teams in which every member is an undergraduate student, may enter free of charge, provided each is enrolled at an accredited institution as of the date of submission and subject to verification of enrollment for each entrant. Verification is done by uploading official documentation to the submission form.
Fees must be paid in full by the submission deadline. An entry is not complete until payment has been received. Entry fees are non-refundable, except at Aurelia’s sole discretion. Entry fees are not charitable donations and are not tax-deductible.
7. Submission Requirements
Each entry must include:
One primary image of the design concept and up to six additional images. Images may be drawings, diagrams, collages, photographs of models, renders, or laid-out boards with minimal captions. There are no constraints on image dimensions.
A written description of no more than 500 words. It should explain what the project is, who and what it is for, how it is envisioned to work, and what it contributes to the future of lunar urbanism. A one-page addendum must include citations that acknowledge the field of prior work; this does not impact the total word count.
Across these materials, the entry must address one site on, or in orbit around, the Moon. It must show three phases of development (Year 1, Year 10, and Year 20) and three scales of representation: the human and/or machine, the building or structure, and the network-scale infrastructure. Phases and scales may be combined within images, and not every phase needs to be shown at every scale.
Images, project description, and citations must be combined into a single PDF no larger than 20 MB.
8. Use of AI Tools
Entrants may use generative AI tools in preparing their entries, provided that the use is disclosed on the submission form, describing which tools were used and for what. Entrants are responsible for ensuring that AI-assisted material does not infringe third-party rights. Undisclosed use of AI may result in disqualification.
9. Judging
Entries will be reviewed internally for completeness and eligibility. Aurelia staff will select a shortlist of entries for jury evaluation. Aurelia staff with a disclosed conflict will not participate in shortlist selection for the affected entry.
The 2027 Prize jury is composed of Norman Foster, Victor Glover, Paola Antonelli, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Gui Trotti, and Ariel Ekblaw. The jury will evaluate entries on the following criteria:
Creativity: originality and imagination of the concept.
Rigor: technical credibility and attention to the conditions of the site-specific lunar environment. Estimates of population, pressurized volume, power, and mass estimates for each phase.
Coherence: how well the concept holds together across its phases and scales.
Viability: plausibility of the concept’s path to realization.
Presentation: clarity and quality of the images and written description, and adherence to image and word count limits.
Purpose: the concept’s contribution to a positive future for humanity across the Earth-Moon system.
Each juror scores each shortlisted entry from 0 to 5 on each criterion. All criteria are weighted equally, and each juror’s scores carry equal weight. Scores are averaged across jurors to produce a ranking, from which finalists will be selected and notified in February 2027. Where a juror recuses from evaluating an entry due to a conflict of interest, that entry’s score is averaged across the remaining jurors.
Each finalist team will be asked to record and upload a video of no more than two minutes that presents the project in further detail and responds to written questions from the jury. Videos must be submitted in accordance with instructions provided at that time. A finalist that does not submit a video by the deadline may be excluded from further consideration. Finalist videos form part of the entry and are subject to Sections 11 and 12.
Finalists will be invited to attend Beyond the Cradle in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on March 31, 2027. Except as provided in Section 10, travel and accommodation costs are the responsibility of the finalist.
The jury will evaluate the finalist entries, including the videos, and decide on a winner. The winning team will be notified confidentially before Beyond the Cradle. Until the public announcement on March 31, 2027, the winning team must keep the result confidential and may disclose it only to team members, immediate family, and employers or academic institutions to the extent necessary to arrange travel, each of whom must also keep it confidential. Aurelia may withdraw the award and select another winner from among the finalists if the result is disclosed in breach of this Section.
Aurelia reserves the right not to award the Prize if no entry meets the standard expected by the jury.
10. Awards
The winner will receive up to $100,000 USD, disbursed in three installments contingent on completion of the milestones below (“Steps”), as determined by Aurelia in its sole discretion.
$20,000 USD following the winning team’s in-person presentation at Beyond the Cradle on March 31, 2027. Aurelia will cover reasonable travel and accommodation costs for one team representative. In-person attendance at Beyond the Cradle by a representative of the winning team is mandatory to receive the award.
$50,000 USD following delivery of a detailed study of a single technical aspect of the winning proposal and an associated budget to work towards this technical milestone. The study’s scope and delivery date, and allowable budget categories, will be agreed in writing between the winning team and Aurelia within 30 days of the initial award announcement in March 2027.
$30,000 USD following delivery of a final project report, design package, and a draft paper formatted for submission to a peer-reviewed conference or journal. The report, package, and paper’s scope and delivery date will be agreed in writing between the winning team and Aurelia within 30 days of delivery of the Step 2 technical study.
Installments for which deliverables are not completed by the agreed dates, or by any extension granted in writing by Aurelia, are forfeited. Step 2 and Step 3 deliverables must be completed within one year of initial award announcement.
In addition to the winner, the jury may select one or more finalist entries for recognition. Aurelia may, at its sole discretion, award a cash prize to any such entry. Any such prize will be paid in a single installment to the primary submitter and is not subject to the milestones above. The jury is not required to recognize any entry other than the winner.
The winner and any recognized finalists may be invited to participate in Aurelia programs and events, which may include the Horizon zero-gravity research flight and workshops. Such invitations are at Aurelia’s discretion and are subject to separate terms and conditions, including any eligibility, medical, safety, travel, and scheduling requirements that apply.
All payments are made to the primary submitter, or to an entity approved by Aurelia. Aurelia is not responsible for how award funds are divided among team members. Awards are not transferable, and no substitution is permitted except at Aurelia’s discretion. All award payments are subject to Sections 13–15.
Awards are paid in U.S. dollars by wire transfer or another method selected by Aurelia, to an account held in the name of the payee. Aurelia may require documentation confirming account ownership before payment and is not responsible for currency conversion, intermediary or receiving bank fees, or delays caused by the recipient’s financial institution.
11. Intellectual Property
Entrants retain all ownership rights in their entries. By entering, each entrant grants Aurelia a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual license to reproduce, display, publish, exhibit, and distribute the entry, in whole or in part, in any media, for purposes related to the Prize, its promotion, and Aurelia’s educational and nonprofit activities. Aurelia will credit entrants where reasonably practicable.
The winning team retains ownership of all milestone deliverables and grants Aurelia the same license to them. The winning team agrees to acknowledge Aurelia in any publication or presentation arising from the funded work.
12. Entrant Representations
By entering, each entrant represents and warrants that:
the entry is the original work of the entrants;
the entrants hold all rights necessary to submit it and to grant the license in Section 11;
the entry does not infringe any copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other right of any third party;
all information provided on the submission form is true and complete.
Each entrant agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Aurelia, the jury, and any Prize partners from any claim arising from a breach of these representations.
13. Legal Compliance
Participation in and receipt of any award through the Aurelia Prize in Design for Space Urbanism are subject to all applicable laws and regulations. Aurelia reserves the right to determine an applicant or proposed award recipient ineligible, or to delay, condition, withhold, block, or decline to make an award or payment, to the extent necessary to comply with applicable law, including U.S. economic sanctions laws and regulations. No applicant or selected recipient is entitled to payment of an award unless and until Aurelia has completed any required compliance review and determined that the award may lawfully be made.
14. Recipient Verification
Before distributing any prize funds, Aurelia may require each individual or entity entitled to receive any portion of an award to provide information and documentation reasonably necessary to verify identity, eligibility, tax status, and compliance with applicable law. Aurelia may conduct sanctions and other legally required compliance screenings. Failure to provide requested information or documentation may delay or prevent payment of an award.
15. Taxes
Prize awards may be subject to U.S. and/or other applicable taxes, reporting requirements, and withholding. Aurelia may require recipients to provide applicable tax forms or other documentation before payment and may be required to deduct or withhold taxes from any award amounts where required by law. Each recipient is responsible for determining and satisfying any tax obligations applicable to the recipient that are not withheld by Aurelia.
16. Applicant Feedback
Due to the volume of submissions, Aurelia cannot provide feedback regarding applications or submissions. Applicants will not receive judges’ comments, scores, rankings, deliberative materials, explanations of selection decisions, or recommendations regarding their submissions. Submission of an application, including payment of any applicable application fee, does not entitle an applicant to individualized feedback. Decisions made through the Prize’s judging and selection process are final.
17. Disqualification
Aurelia may disqualify any entry or entrant that fails to comply with these Rules, provides false or misleading information, has an undisclosed conflict of interest, attempts to influence the judging process, or engages in conduct that Aurelia considers harmful to the integrity or reputation of the Prize. Disqualification may occur at any stage, including after an award has been announced. In that case, unpaid installments are forfeited and paid installments may be subject to repayment.
18. Privacy
Personal information collected through the submission form is used to administer the Prize, verify eligibility, conduct compliance screening, process payments, and communicate with entrants, in accordance with Aurelia’s privacy policy, which is linked in the footer of every page of the Aurelia Institute website (https://www.aureliainstitute.org/). Documents provided to verify student status will be retained until all entrants have been notified of their finalist status, and then deleted. Entrants in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and other jurisdictions with data protection laws may exercise their rights by contacting prize@aureliainstitute.org.
The winner and finalists agree to the use of their names, likenesses, institutional affiliations, and countries of residence in connection with the announcement and promotion of the Prize, without further compensation, except where prohibited by law.
19. Changes and Cancellation
Aurelia reserves the right to modify these Rules, extend deadlines, or suspend, cancel, or modify the Prize if circumstances beyond its reasonable control make that necessary. Material changes will be posted at https://www.aureliainstitute.org/prize-rules. If the Prize is cancelled, entry fees will be refunded.
20. Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Aurelia, the Prize jury, and any Prize partners are not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, corrupted, or misdirected entries, or for technical failures of any kind. By entering, entrants release Aurelia, the Prize jury, and any Prize partners from any liability arising from participation in the Prize, attendance at Beyond the Cradle, travel, or receipt or use of any award, except where such liability cannot be excluded by law.
21. Governing Law
These Rules are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and applicable U.S. federal law, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Any dispute arising from the Prize will be resolved exclusively in the state or federal courts located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
22. Contact
Questions about these Rules may be sent to prize@aureliainstitute.org; Aurelia cannot guarantee an individualized reply for every inquiry, so please refer to the Prize’s Frequently Asked Questions, posted at https://www.aureliainstitute.org/prize-faq. The official version of these Rules is posted at https://www.aureliainstitute.org/prize-rules and supersedes any summary in other Prize materials.
