History of the Longitude Prize

Not being able to measure longitude on the sea left ships struggling to stay on course with serious consequences when they didn’t.

Merchants and captains petitioned the British Parliament to solve the issue of navigating at sea, which culminated in the government issuing The Longitude Act offering a £20,000 prize (approx £1.5m today) to anyone who could solve it.

Over a decade later, a clockmaker called John Harrison, solved this issue developing a gadget called a chronometer, which aspects of his invention are still used today.

In the end, however, neither he, nor his family, were ever awarded the full prize money.

300 years after the original Longitude Prize, a new challenge targeting antimicrobial resistance was set up by the UK Government, Innovate UK and Nesta/Challenge Works.

It’s estimated that in 2019, 1.9 million people died from an antibiotic resistant infection or superbug, and it’s estimated that 10 million people a year will die from a drug resistant infection by 2050. In the absence of new antibiotics, and to preserve the effects of the ones we have, accurate and fast diagnostic testing is essential.

This prize sought a new diagnostic test that could rapidly tell whether an infection is bacterial, if an antibiotic is needed to treat it, and if so, which specific antibiotic would be the most suitable. 

Hundreds of teams have worked with the Longitude Prize on AMR to invent and create rapid tests using diverse technologies, creating life-saving technologies.

Following a decade of developments, Challenge Works is proud to announce that the £8m Longitude Prize on AMR has been won by the PA-100 AST System from Sysmex Astrego.

To learn more visit the Longitude Prize for AMR.

The Longitude Prize on Dementia, launched in September 2022 and is a £4.4 million prize to drive the creation of personalised, technology-based tools that are co-created with people living with the early stages of dementia, helping them live independently for longer. £3.4 million will be awarded in seed funding and development grants to the most promising solutions, with a £1 million first prize to be awarded in 2026.

Funded by the UK’s leading dementia charity, Alzheimer’s Society, and Innovate UK – the UK’s innovation agency, innovators can enter their solutions to the prize until January 2023. The prize has been designed and is being delivered by innovation experts Challenge Works.

The prize has received generous support from three UK donors: The Hunter Foundation, CareTech Foundation and Heather Corrie. In addition, the prize has received funding from the Medical Research Council which funds research at the forefront of science to prevent illness, develop therapies and improve human health.

Find out more about dementia here.