James Heilman, 12/03/2012 11:07:
Seven month ago we at Wikimedia Canada offered a $1000 CAD scholarship to be awarded to the Canadian university student who made the most significant contribution to a disease related article on Wikipedia. The scholarship was promoted using posters placed up at a number of Universities as well as presentations at two Canadian universities. While the efforts garnered some positive press as document here http://wikimedia.ca/wiki/Wikimedia_Canada:About there where no serious applicants. I am unsure why. It could possibly be related to Canadian students being sufficiently wealthy that this was insufficient funding to peak their interest. I am unsure if it would be worth offering it globally next year or expanding those who can apply to high school students as well? Anyway some though for those who consider trying something similar.
This is not surprising. The https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Zedler_Medal has existed for a long time See also http://etherpad.wikimedia.org/incentives (wasn't this put anywhere?), from https://wikimania2011.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions/Wikipedia_and_beyond:_Incentivizing_the_engagement_for_freely_licensed_material_and_projects.
Nemo