Contact Us
Showcase your creative thinking
Thank you for participating in Conjecture Mania and congratulations to the winners.
challenge
Conjecture Mania, a new cross-disciplinary competition, challenges participants to develop creative, yet scientifically plausible, Conjecture µPubs (MicroPublications) to advance novel ideas that envision new, transformative industries by 2041.
In Fall 2020, members of the Polyplexus community participated in Evidence Madness to identify seminal papers in four disciplines – life sciences, chemistry (including materials), physics (including solid state) and computer science (hardware and software).
Submissions to Conjecture Mania must pair a paper from Evidence Madness with another piece of evidence from a different discipline to imagine what the future may hold.
To participate, check out the rules below. But above all, have fun and be creative!
participation rules
Voting Rules
Voting will proceed in three rounds and take place on Conjecture Mania.
Round 1
1. Anyone registered on the Polyplexus platform may vote in Conjecture Mania.
2. Voting begins on Saturday, May 1, 2021.
3. Round 1 voting concludes on Tuesday, May 4, 2021.
4. Each Voter will be allocated 10 votes in the first round.
5. Voters can cast one vote per Conjecture µPub.
6. Voters are not required to use all of their votes but unused votes do not carry over to the next round.
7. Voting should reflect the Voter’s personal opinion of the Conjecture µPub’s creativity and scientific plausibility.
8. To influence voting, Voters are encouraged to add additional comments supportive of their vote.
(Hint: Make sure to add your comments. The 5 best Voter comments across all rounds – as evaluated by a panel of independent experts– will each win $200.)
9. The 10 Conjecture µPubs with the most votes will be the winners of Round 1.
10. Immediately after posting the Round 1 winners, Round 2 will begin.
Round 2: Semi-Finals
1. In Round 2, each Voter will be allotted three
2. Round 2 voting concludes on Friday, May 7, 2021.
3. Voters can cast one vote per Conjecture µPub.
4. Voters are not required to use all of their votes but unused votes do not carry over to the Round 3.
5. Voting should reflect the Voter’s opinion of the Conjecture µPub’s creativity and scientific plausibility.
6. Voters are encouraged to add additional comments supportive of their vote.
(Hint: Make sure to add your comments. The 5 best Voter comments across all rounds – as evaluated by a panel of independent experts– will each win $200.)
7. The three Conjecture µPubs with the most votes will move to Round 3, the Finals.
8. Immediately after posting the Round 2 winners, the Finals begin.
Round 3: Finals
1. In the final round each Voter can cast one vote for what they feel is the best, most creative, and most plausible Conjecture as described in the challenge.
2. The final round voting concludes on Monday, May 10, 2021.
3. The Conjecture µPub with the most votes wins Conjecture Mania.
4. Winners will be announced on Tuesday, May 11, 2021.
Submission Rules
1. Before submitting a Conjecture µPub, make sure the Conjecture µPub addresses the Creation Rules.
(Hint: Only Conjecture µPubs that meet all the Rules will be accepted into the Conjecture Mania competition.)
2. Conjecture Creators are encouraged to add a justification comment to their Conjecture elaborating on the entry and explaining why the community should vote for it.
(Hint: Make it count. The 5 best justifications – as evaluated by a panel of independent experts– will each win $350.)
3. All submissions are evaluated by a panel of independent experts.
(Hint: Scientifically implausible or marginally creative Conjectures may not be accepted.)
4. The submission period is: Monday, April 19 to Friday, April 30, 2021.
5. Conjecture µPubs which meet all the requirements will be published to Conjecture Mania on Saturday, May 1, 2021.
Creation Rules
1. Conjecture Creators must be registered on the Polyplexus platform to participate in Conjecture Mania.
2. Creators need to link two Evidence µPubs to create a Conjecture µPub.
(Don’t know how to create a Conjecture µPub? Click here to learn.)
3. For Conjecture Mania, one Evidence µPub must come from Evidence Madness. To create a new Conjecture µPub for Conjecture Mania visit the Mania Tab in the Conjecture Mania Incubator. For more information, refer to the interactive example below.
(For a how-to guide, check out the Conjecture Mania Tutorial Video.)
4. The second Evidence µPub can come from the larger Polyplexus Database and may or may not be authored by the Conjecture Creator. Alternatively, you can create a new Evidence µPub specifically for your Conjecture.
(Hint: Interdisciplinary Conjecture µPubs will be favored in the voting process.)
5. Conjectures should advance a new idea as described in the challenge.
6. Creators can submit their Conjecture µPubs to Conjecture Mania, starting Monday, April 19, 2021.
7. Creators can submit up to three different Conjectures to Conjecture Mania.
8. The submission period is: Monday, April 19 to Friday, April 30, 2021.
9. Creators cannot submit Conjecture µPubs after the submission period ends.
prizes
Creators
1. In the final round, the Creator of the Conjecture µPub with the most votes wins first place and $3,000. In the event of a tie, the final conjectures will split the pot.
2. The Creator of the second place Conjecture µPub wins $1,000.
3. The Creator of the third place Conjecture µPub wins $500.
4. Bonus: The best 5 Creator justification comments will each win $350.
Voters
1. Voters who vote for all three finalists in Round 2 correctly and vote for the eventual winner in the Finals will split a $2,000 pot.
2. Bonus round: the 5 best comments – as evaluated by a panel of independent experts – will each win $200.
P.S. Hey, this is our second competitive event – we can’t see the future. So Aixxia reserves the right to fix issues that arise during this competition in the spirit of the contest and rules above. We will be as fair as we can be.
P.P.S. We solemnly promise no employees or family members will be winners.
Sponsors for the first Conjecture Mania include
