1. What is The Great Mind Challenge?

The Great Mind Challenge (TGMC) is a contest in India, open for students of engineering, MCA, and other IT-related courses. We’re in our eighth year and have grown steadily over the years. This year, we aim to reach 3,000 colleges and more than 200,000 students.

2. What is the eligibility criterion?
Any current college student in India with basic IT skills can participate. For example, students from IT, computer science, BCA, MCA, BSc, MSc, BE, B.Tech or M.Tech, colleges can participate.

3. Can college alumni participate?
This contest is for current students only.

4. Is team registration a must or can I register individually?
Building a team is required.

5. Is faculty guide mandatory for each team?
Yes.

6. Can I register with multiple teams?
No. Please note that if a student or team has registered multiple times and submits multiple projects, then the first submission from them only will be considered and the others will be automatically disqualified. To avoid, this, please ensure that you participate only once.

7. How many teams can a faculty member guide?
There is no limit to the number of teams for a faculty member to guide.

8. Can I change my team members/faculty guide after registration?
Yes. The team can be reconfigured with the approval of other team members.

9. What do I do to make changes to my TGMC team profile?
Please send an email to with all the details of the changes you wish to incorporate to your team profile, and we will have it changed. Post the change, and a confirmation email will be sent to you.

10. Can a team be formed with students from different colleges?
No. Team members and faculty must belong to the same college.

11. Will I be certified if I don’t win this contest?
Everyone who successfully submits a valid project will receive a participation certificate

12. Can I use this project as an academic project?
This depends on whether your college/university decides to give you this opportunity. Ask your HoD about it. There are many colleges that permit this. See TGMC Project as Final-Year Project.

13. Do I get a certificate at all?
Yes. You will receive a certificate of participation if you submit a full project within the timelines. Please keep in mind that your TGMC 2011 project will not be recognized as valid if IBM Softwares are not used. For Coding - To use - Eclipse, Rational Application Developer (RAD), Rational Software Architecture. Not to Use - Any commercial Eclipse Version and Other Java IDEs. For Application Server - To use - Websphere Application server Community edition and Websphere Application server. Not to use - Any non - IBM server (Tomcat, Weblogic etc.,). For Database - To Use - DB2, Cloudscape, Derby. Not to use - Any non IBM databases (Oracle, MS Access etc.,). For Designing - To use - Rational ROSE.. You can also choose to be our ambassador to take forward this program within your college or among your friends from other colleges. In this case, you will get some additional rewards from IBM.

14. Can a TGMC-certified graduate compete with an experienced IT professional?
In any field, you need to start somewhere. TGMC can be that starting point for you as a student. It will guide you toward being a professional, giving you the exposure as well as allowing you to create a professional project.

15. What is the required size of the team?
A team consists of minimum of two and maximum of four members, not counting your faculty sponsor.

16. Is TGMC more beneficial for third-semester students or fourth-semester students? Or is it good for both?
This contest is beneficial for students of both semesters.

17. Do we get any certificate of experience after TGMC?
No such certificate is given.

18. Are first- and second-year engineering students eligible?
Yes.

19. Is it necessary that only IT or computer science students can participate in such contests?
No. BE/B.Tech/M.Tech/BCA/MCA students can also participate.

20. I am well versed with IBM technologies. Can I start working on the project directly?
Yes.

21. Will the software provided by IBM be a fully licensed version or a trial version?
All the software is fully functional without any time limits or restrictions on usage.

22. What will happen if one team member quits in the process? Do we have to inform any authorized person or simply add a person to finish the project?
You can do either. But you must create a team group and add/delete team members there.

23. Is it possible to increase the size of the team at any point in order to complete the project as per the deadlines?
Yes. You may increase the team size to a maximum of four at any point. Please ensure that you update your team’s profile as outlined above.

24. How do I update my contact information?
Please send email to .

25. Can I withdraw from the contest if I wish to?
We'd be sad to see you go, but at any point during the contest, if you decide not to participate and no longer want IBM or its representatives to contact you, you may do so by sending an e-mail to . Please note that even if you withdraw from The Great Mind Challenge, you are not withdrawn from MydeveloperWorks, the IBM Academic Initiative, or from IBM registration, and you can continue to enjoy these services. It simply means that we will not use your contact information for TGMC, and you will be considered to have withdrawn from the contest.

26. Is there a guideline to form a team?
Team members, including the faculty mentor, must be from the same college. All members must be Indian nationals residing in India. Any violation will lead to your team being disqualified. If you still wish to participate, please re-register as a new team, ensuring that all members are from India and the same college. This is applicable only if registrations are still open.

27. How can a student become a TGMC student ambassador?
Only current engineering college students participating in TGMC can become student ambassadors. He/She needs to become a member of the TGMC Alumni Group, and a confirmation mail for becoming a student ambassador needs to be sent. Details are available within the group.

28. What is the role of a student ambassador?
The primary responsibility is to spread awareness for TGMC and promote registrations. They can also do anything creative for TGMC 2010. A presentation in the college on TGMC and its activities, a Facebook group discussion, anything that could help others take advantage of TGMC, technical help provided to students participating in TGMC, etc.

29. What is the role of TGMC College SPOC?
Any current faculty of a college where students have registered for TGMC can be nominated by the college as a TGMC SPOC for that college. He/She needs to become a member of the TGMC Alumni Group, and a confirmation mail for becoming a student ambassador needs to be sent to . A basic requirement of making sure that the college has a maximum number of registrations in TGMC and active participation by the students needs to be taken care of.

30. If I get a mail of acknowledgement of SRS received or TGMC project received, will this be enough to validate my participation?

No, you need to ensure that your team is registered with TGMC before you start working on your SRS or Project. Teams not registered will not be eligible to participate in the contest.

Benefits

1. Why should I register for TGMC and what are the key benefits?

  • Participating in TGMC will help enhance your skills and ensure that they are mapped to industry demands.
  • It offers you an opportunity to work with the world's leading IT company.
  • It provides easy access to free training on high-end technologies.
  • It also opens doors to placement opportunities according to one’s skill set.

2. Will participating in TGMC be useful for students during the development of their careers?
Yes. Participating in TGMC helps students master the industry-standard technologies, which are acceptable worldwide. This enables them to be market-ready with the expected IT skills.

3. Does IBM help us in getting placed with a reputed IT company?
IBM indirectly helps you by providing an opportunity to be a part of the talented pool of skilled resource with visibility to industry personnel. The IBM Student Opportunity System portal is a database of IBM Professional Software Certified students for our clients to view and shortlist candidates for their requirements. No direct placement with IBM will be possible. But we suggest that you upload your resume if you are IBM Professional Certified on the Student Opportunity System, as that will help you to apply to IBM eventually.

4. Does the project done for TGMC have good CV value?
You must showcase your work in your resume. It definitely holds value if your resume goes to any of our business partners, or even otherwise, as this contest is well known in the relevant circles.

5. Is there a possibility of enhancing my communication and interview skills while participating in TGMC?
Participating in TGMC enables you to work in collaboration, which is the primary requirement of today’s work environment. Also, participants will be interacting a lot with peers, faculty members, and others. This will enhance your communication skill set. If you are a winner, you will be required to meet several jury members and evaluators from IBM and business partners. This will give you that extra edge to communicate with people at different levels in the professional circuit.

6. What is the validity of the IBM certificate? Is it valid for all IT industries?
A certificate as a contest winner/special mention/ambassador has no expiry date. It is valid for all IT industries.

7. What are the prizes for TGMC 2011?
Refer to the Prizes section.

Process

1. What’s the process and how do I log in or register?
You need to fill the Registration form for TGMC 2011. Once you submit the form a confirmation mail will be sent to the team, thereby confirming your registration.

2. Is there a joining fee?
No. This is no fee or cost involved to participate.

3. Do I need any approvals before I start working on my project scenarios/projects?
No. There is nothing stopping you from starting work on your project scenarios/projects, if your team has selected the same form the list already mentioned on website. We suggest you start as soon as you finish team registration. If you are wanting to work on a project scenario of your own, a prior approval is required on the same by TGMC team. You need to select the option " Own Project Scenario" in the registration page and submit the form with the relevant details. Once IBM TGMC team reviews it, they will get back to you with the confirmation.

4. Will the mode of training be online or offline?
It will be online. However, if there is a large number of students/teams from one particular college, we may consider conducting a training session at your college.

5. What will be the duration of the online training?
The online training sessions will be self-paced so students can work at speeds suitable to them to learn and absorb most of the content.

6. Is it necessary to work in our college lab or can I work on my project from home or a cyber café?
It is not necessary to work only in your college lab. You may work on your projects from home, college, or any other place.

Technical requirements

1. On what platform do students have to develop their projects?
You may use any platform you are comfortable with to develop your project. However, using an open source platform like Linux will give you an edge over others. Software platform guidelines are available in Technical Resources and Contest Resources. If you still have questions, e-mail us at for technical queries and for contest queries.

2. While doing the project, which tool must be used for which purpose?
All the details of the software tools with their definitions are available in Technical Resources.