2025-2026 Essay Contest - Win a cash prize!

We are offering a first prize of $500 and the potential opportunity to be published by the Bateman Horne Center, the Massachusetts ME/CFS & FM Association, MEAction, Open Medicine Foundation, and SolveME in their non-profit publications to reach a wide audience.  Second and third cash prizes will also be offered if there is sufficient participation.

Essay Theme: Design a Future Where People with ME/CFS Can Truly Thrive!

Length: 500 words
Eligibility: Open to all UC San Diego undergraduate and graduate/professional students

Overview

We are inviting you to imagine a future where people with ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome) can truly thrive. Your essay should sketch out an idea, a tool, policy, system, story, service, design, or program, that would improve life for people with ME/CFS.

You do not need to present a finished or technical solution. Focus on clearly describing your idea and explaining how it responds to the real needs and challenges faced by people with ME/CFS. Your proposal can be global, national, local, or personal in scale.

Please keep in mind that ME/CFS is a complex, often disabling condition marked by extreme energy limitations, post-exertional malaise (PEM), cognitive impairment, and multisystem dysfunction. Many patients face barriers in healthcare, education, work, and daily life. ME/CFS patients can be any age, including pediatric and senior patients.  Proposals should reflect these realities and offer insight, innovation, or practical improvements.

What We Are Looking For

We are looking for essays that offer creative, thoughtful solutions and insights into how to support people with ME/CFS and improve their quality of life and level of functioning.

Key evaluation criteria:

• Originality

• Clarity and coherence

• Relevance to ME/CFS needs and realities

• Strength of the argument

• Connection to the writer’s own field or perspective

We welcome submissions from all academic backgrounds. Solutions are not limited to biomedical or clinical approaches. We are excited to see ideas informed by fields such as engineering, computer science, public relations, education, architecture, sociology, economics, urban planning, law, media, art, policy, and more.

All entrants are asked to research and show knowledge of ME/CFS before starting work on the essay.  There is a list of recommended resources on the Instructions page.  Entrants are also able to email info@mecfsSanDiego.com for more resource options.

Please submit any essays through: https://forms.gle/Zt8ffBigpSwAN3Qu8.  The competition will close at midnight PST on Wednesday 31 December 2025 and judging will be completed before the end of January 2026.

Optional Idea Starters

You can use these as inspiration. You may focus on just one idea, or explore several related ones.

Awareness and Education

• Create a public campaign to increase understanding and counter misinformation

• Design an educational tool or multimedia resource that explains ME/CFS

• Propose ways to integrate ME/CFS into academic curricula or medical training

• Develop culturally and linguistically inclusive materials for different communities

• Imagine strategies to share clinical care guidelines with more healthcare professionals
  
  

Healthcare and Support

• Reimagine the medical appointment process to reduce stress and cognitive load

• Design telehealth services tailored to people with severe energy limitations

• Propose training programs for healthcare providers or caregivers

• Suggest ways to support students or young people living with ME/CFS

• Create tools to help patients navigate complex systems such as healthcare, disability services, or education
  
  

Technology and Daily Living

• Develop a mobile app or wearable device for symptom tracking or pacing

• Propose low-tech or offline tools for those sensitive to screens or technology

• Design sensory-friendly or cognitive-accessible interfaces

• Address data privacy concerns for people using health tech

• Create a tool that assists with energy management, communication, or daily tasks
  
  

Policy, Access, and Infrastructure

• Suggest improvements to public transportation or housing policies

• Propose emergency planning protocols for people who are homebound or bedbound

• Imagine energy-conserving public spaces such as clinics, libraries, or campuses

• Outline a plan to scale an educational or advocacy idea locally or nationally

• Propose a partnership model connecting students, patients, researchers, and communities
  
  

Access and Outreach

• Consider barriers that different communities might face in ME/CFS diagnosis, care, and support

• Propose ways to reach people who live in rural areas, or face other challenges accessing services

• Explore how existing laws or disability policies might not fully address the needs of people with ME/CFS

• Suggest approaches to ensure care, education, and communication are respectful and effective for people from varied backgrounds and circumstances
  
  

Storytelling and Communication

• Imagine a short film, podcast, comic, or visual project that brings ME/CFS experiences to life

• Explore how personal narratives can shift public or institutional attitudes

• Propose platforms that support the safe, ethical sharing of patient stories

Optional Reflection

You are invited (but not required) to include a few sentences in your essay reflecting on your personal or academic connection to the topic. Consider:

• What is the gap between what you knew before and after learning about ME/CFS?

• How might your area of study or experience contribute to solutions for the ME/CFS community?

• Why does this issue matter to you?

For Rules, Instructions, and Resources - please visit 25-26 Essay Contest Rules, Instructions, and Resources