Four teams of vet students have been announced as finalists for the inaugural Global Veterinary Challenge. The shortlisted students, from the University of Cambridge, University of Bristol, and University of Surrey, were officially announced today at London Vet Show 2025.
The shortlisted projects featured proposals to help equids and camelids in North Africa, livestock in Western Kazakhstan, free roaming dogs in Paraguay, and small ruminants in rural Africa.
The Global Veterinary Challenge Award was launched in June of this year by UK veterinary charity, Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS), in partnership with the British Veterinary Association (BVA). The challenge aims to engage veterinary students in developing innovative, sustainable solutions to pressing animal welfare issues. To enter, students were tasked to “design a project that champions an international animal welfare issue”, with the chance to see it come to life with up to £100,000 worth of funding available for the winning project.
CEO and Founder of WVS, Luke Gamble, was impressed by the quality of applications received.
He said: “It was inspiring to have had so many applicants for the Global Veterinary Challenge Award. It takes something special to spot a global welfare issue and the drive to figure out a potential way to solve it and it was tough to choose the finalists! The next stage is working with WVS to shape up the full proposals and then the winning team will get to see their project become a reality. It’s going to be fantastic – and they will get to witness the impact of their project directly improving the lives of animals (and the communities that depend on them) that would otherwise go without help.”
The four applications selected to go into the next stage were:
- Ethan Key, Sian Lloyd and Daniel Matchett-Griffiths from the University of Surrey: A Coordinated Effort for Public Health in Paraguay: A Unified Approach With Door-to-Door Veterinary Services and a Community Clinic.
- Helen Hein, Meighan McMain and Daisy Cripps from the University of Bristol: Empowering Vets and Farmers for Improved Livestock Welfare in Western Kazakhstan: A Multidisciplinary Approach
- Francesca Haldane, Shreya Patel, and Rudi Bruijn-Yard from the University of Cambridge: Tackling Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) using a targeted vaccination campaign in rural African communities
- Jasleen Lota, Nina Guillaume, and Freya Short from the University of Bristol: Don’t Skip The Dip.
The winning project will be announced on 11 June 2026 at the BVA Awards 2026 at the Hilton Metropole, NEC Birmingham as part of BVA Live (11 to 12 June).
British Veterinary Association Senior Vice President Dr Elizabeth Mullineaux said: “It’s inspiring to see such ambitious applications and projects from vet students from around the UK – this is a fantastic opportunity for them to address significant global animal welfare concerns, working alongside WVS staff and local animal healthcare providers, as well as developing their own skills and knowledge. We have been impressed by all the finalists, and the shortlisted teams should be so proud to have got to this stage, congratulations. It is going to be tremendously difficult to choose an overall winner!”
The second year of the challenge will open to students in early 2026. Students interested in finding out more and registering their interest can do so here or by emailing the orgnanisation here.
