STEM Contests and Challenges
Participate in various national and international STEM competitions to build confidence, learn new skills, and win prizes of all kinds.
- United States (participants must reside in the U.S. or U.S. territories)
- International and U.S. (participants can reside anywhere)
United States
National Eye Institute’s Eye on the Future Video Contest – Contest for Teens
As part of its Eye on the Future campaign, NEI is hosting a national video contest to encourage high school students’ interest in science, eye health, and research careers. Winners will receive cash prizes and a paid trip to visit the National Institutes of Health. Check NEI's website for updates and to watch last year’s winning videos.
ARCGIS Online Competition – U.S. high school students conduct and share a research project
Esri challenges US students to conduct and share a research project about something in their home state. Esri's ArcGIS Online Competition is open to high school ("HS," gr.9-12) and middle school ("MS," gr.4-8) students in participating states in the US who can gather, create, analyze, interpret, and present data via an ArcGIS StoryMap.
MIT THINK Scholars Program – Science, research, and innovation program for high school students
Rather than requiring students to have completed a research project before applying, THINK caters to students who have done extensive research on the background of a potential research project and are looking for additional guidance in the early stages of their project. The program is organized by a group of undergraduates at MIT. Selected finalists have weekly mentorship meetings and are given up to $1,000 in funding for their project.
National Science Bowl® (NSB) – Open to middle and high school students
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Science Bowl® is a nationwide academic competition that tests students’ knowledge in all areas of science and mathematics. Middle and high school student teams from diverse backgrounds are comprised of four students, one alternate, and a teacher who serves as an advisor and coach. These teams face-off in a fast-paced question-and-answer format, being tested on a range of science disciplines including biology, chemistry, Earth science, physics, energy, and math.
MathCounts – Middle School Competitions
Register for the MathCounts® Competition Series or the MathVideo® Challenge to showcase your problem-solving skills.
Science Olympiad TM – Explore the World of Science
Science Olympiad is the premier team STEM competition in the nation, providing standards-based challenges to 6,000 teams at 425 tournaments in all 50 states. 2023 Rules Released 9/6/22, followed by fall workshops and national Workshop Wednesdays showcasing innovative content.
eCybermission – Army sponsored web-based STEM competition
Virtual STEM Competition for Grades 6 – 9. Students identify community problems through hypothesis, research, and experimentation with a chance to win prizes.
NASA TechRise Student Challenge – Open to Grades 6 to 12
Each year is a new challenge for 6th – 12th graders to team up with your classmates and develop an experiment idea.
NASA App Development Challenge (ADC) - Coding challenge for Middle and High Schoolers
The NASA App Development Challenge (ADC) is a coding challenge in which NASA presents technical problems to middle and high school students seeking student contributions to deep space exploration missions.
National American Indian Science & Engineering Fair (NAISEF) – Science Fair for Indigenous Students
Students compete for the chance to represent NAISEF at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). NAISEF sends 2 Grand Prize winners to the ISEF where they compete against students from over 70 other countries. In addition to the Grand Prize, students are also eligible for various cash prizes, have the chance to tour OSU and network at our College and Career Fair.
Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) – Presentations from High School Students
The National JSHS brings together 245 high school students who qualify by submitting and presenting original scientific research papers in regional symposium held at universities nationwide.
National Robotics Challenge – Open to student in 6th grade through graduate school
The National Robotics Challenge is designed to complement classroom instruction and provide students the opportunity to apply classroom knowledge in competitive and fun situations.
International and U.S.
Canadian Computing Competition - Fun programming challenge
The Canadian Computing Competition (CCC) is a fun challenge for participants with an interest in programming. Designed to be both accessible to participants with some programming experience and to challenge the keenest programmers at the secondary school level, the CCC helps participants build confidence and grow their ability to design, understand and implement algorithms.
Destination Imagination Challenge Experience – A problem-solving competition
The Challenge Experience is our flagship program for pre-K, K-12 and university students. Teams develop solutions to project-based STEAM challenges and then present their solutions live at tournaments.
Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) – National and International high schools
The Regeneron STS recognizes and empowers our nation’s most promising young scientists who are developing ideas that could solve society’s most urgent challenges. Each year, nearly 1,900 students enter the Regeneron STS, submitting original research in critically important scientific fields of study. Unique among high school competitions, the Regeneron STS focuses on identifying, inspiring, and engaging the most promising scientists among the nation’s high school seniors.
Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) – Largest pre-college STEM competition
High school students compete for nearly $8 million in awards, prizes and scholarships.
Toshiba | NSTA ExploraVision - K-12 Competition
The Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision competition is a perfect STEM learning tool for K-12 virtual or in person collaborative learning.
IREX World Smarts STEM Challenge – 8th-12th Graders
The World Smarts STEM Challenge (WSSC) is a virtual exchange program that supports STEM education in the United States and Ghana. 8th-12th grade students in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia and secondary school students from across Ghana come together virtually to solve global issues in their communities with STEM solutions.
The International Biology Olympiad (IBO) – Competition for Secondary Schoolers
The world's largest biology competition for secondary school students takes place every year in a different country. The competition always takes place in July and lasts one week. In order to participate in the IBO, you will need to win your National Biology Olympiad (NBO) competition and be selected to represent your country or region internationally.