Ready to take your place around the boardroom table? First of all, you’ve got to register.

Start by assembling your team of no less than three, and up to five college or university students. Choose a team name, and register on the Next Great Innovator website by completing all fields of the online registration form .

The Registration Period for the 2011 Challenge is now open.

Your team’s entry is submitted in multiple phases during the Submission Period. All submissions must be in Microsoft Word format or PDF and no longer than 5,000 words (excluding appendices). Submissions can be made in either English or French. All sections of the submission form except the Team Profile and Appendices are mandatory. All submissions must be submitted via the registration platform. For full information on the challenge milestones and specific instructions on what to submit for each deadline and how to prepare your submission, please visit The Process on facebook , or view the Submission templates here:

• Team Profile (Optional)
• Abstract
• Research & Viability
• Project
• Final Presentation

The Submission Period for the 2011 Challenge is October 6 to December 4.

Before you register or submit your entry, read the complete Rules & regulations , which will provide your team with all the important details about the challenge and submissions. The Rules and regulations are an integral part of the information your team needs to do a good job! In the event of any confusion or ambiguity in the competition, the Rules will govern.

Good luck to you and your team!

Challenge deadlines

There’s nothing like a deadline to stir creativity. Mark these essential 2011 Challenge dates in your calendar:

September 1: The 6^th Annual Next Great Innovator Challenge Question is unveiled. Register  now!

October 11: Team Profiles submitted – this is an optional submission. Your team profile should be submitted by October 11 in order to be eligible for the iPad give away contest. RBC reserves its right to, at its sole discretion, provide a thank you gift to those teams or individuals who submit by this deadline. Teams opting to not submit a profile may still submit 1 resume of up to 2 pages per team member via the RBC Careers website. In order to properly identify yourself, it is imperative that you apply to the correct requisition below.

141950 Undergraduate Candidates - graduating 2011

141967 Undergraduate Candidates - graduating 2012-2015

141968 Graduate Level Candidates - graduating 2011-2012

141969 Graduate Level Candidates - graduating 2013

October 24: Submit your Abstracts to be eligible to receive facebook badges

November 14: Submit your Research & Viability to be eligible to receive facebook badges

December 4: Last day to submit Project.

December 4 – January 20: Judging narrows competition to Top 5.

January 20: Top 5 teams announced. Final Presentations begin. All team members must be present for the Final Presentation.

January 20: All members of the Top 5 teams will be granted an interview with RBC Royal bank. Scheduling of interviews will commence on this date.

February 23: Final Presentations, Gala and Winners of the Next Great Innovator Challenge are announced.