Terms and conditions.

Who can enter

This programme is open to students in India only. You must be currently enrolled at a recognised college or university in India. Students enrolled at institutions outside India are not eligible, and entries from them will not be evaluated.

You must be a current undergraduate, postgraduate or PhD student, and be able to provide genuine, unaltered student ID or enrolment proof belonging to you and not used by another participant. We may ask for that proof at any point, and may withdraw an entry if it is not produced.

Employees of DrillBit SoftTech India Pvt Ltd, the evaluators appointed for the programme, and their immediate families may not enter.

Entering

• There is no entry fee.
• One entry per participant. Individual participation only.
• One approved theme per entry.
• Articles must be 1,000 to 2,500 words, in English, submitted as DOCX or PDF.
• The work must be your own, written for this programme, and not previously published or submitted elsewhere for an award.
• Sources must be cited wherever external material is used.

The full requirements are set out on the programme page, and form part of these terms.

Originality and the use of AI

Entries are checked for originality. Submitting work that is plagiarised, generated in substance by an AI tool and passed off as your own, or otherwise not authentically yours disqualifies the entry, and may disqualify you from future editions of the programme. The published AI policy on the programme page explains what assistance is acceptable.

Evaluation and awards

Entries are scored against the published criteria. The award pool is Rs 25 lakh, shared across 150 winners in the tiers set out on the programme page.

Evaluation decisions are final, and we do not enter into correspondence about individual scores. Awards are subject to eligibility, evaluation and the published programme guidelines, and cannot be exchanged for anything else. Winners are responsible for any tax arising on an award, and we may withhold tax where the law requires it. Payment requires the bank and identity details we ask for at that stage.

We may verify any claim made in an entry, and may withhold or reclaim an award where a claim turns out to be false.

Your work stays yours

You keep copyright in what you write. By entering you grant DrillBit SoftTech India Pvt Ltd a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to publish your entry, in whole or in part, in connection with the programme and its results, with your name and college shown. You confirm the work is yours to license and that it infringes nobody else’s rights.

Changes and cancellation

We may change the dates, rules or structure of the programme, or cancel it, where circumstances require. We will tell registered participants by email if we do.

Conduct

Registering more than once, entering on someone else’s behalf, submitting false enrolment details, or interfering with the running of the programme will disqualify you.

Your data

What we collect and what you can ask us to do with it is set out in our privacy policy.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of India, and the courts at Bangalore have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising from them.

Contact

Questions about these terms go to scholarship@drillbitglobal.com.