Top 12 Research Competitions for High School Students in 2025–2026

Research competitions for high school students allow you to showcase your initiative, academic inquiry, and critical thinking skills as you explore topics you’re interested in, whether in STEM, social sciences, or the humanities. Winning these competitions can also earn you prizes, from cash prizes to scholarships.

In this guide, you’ll find the top research competitions for high school students in 2025–2026. Each section breaks down who can participate, how the competition works, what you’ll actually be doing, and the kind of recognition you can earn along the way.

• What Are the Best Research Competitions for High School Students?
• Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (Regeneron ISEF)
• Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS)
• Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS)
• Davidson Fellows Scholarship
• BioGENEius
• Toshiba Exploravision
• Stockholm Junior Water Prize
• Conrad Challenge
• MIT THINK Scholars Program
• Breakthrough Junior Challenge
• Destination ImagiNation
• TOPPS Competition for High School Psychology Students
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Takeaways

What Are the Best Research Competitions for High School Students?

Research competitions for high school students allow you to explore big ideas, test your analytical thinking, and see how your work performs under professional evaluation.

These events also produce concrete results such as rankings, scholarships, finalist titles, and national recognition that can strengthen your college applications, especially if you’re aiming for research-intensive schools like the Ivy League.

Below is a table of some of the best research competitions for high school students, including each competition’s name, location, and projected dates for 2025–2026.

Let’s discuss them one by one.

1. Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (Regeneron ISEF)

• Dates: May 9–15, 2026
• Location: Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, Arizona
• Prizes: (1st Award) $6,000 | (2nd Award) $2,400 | (3rd Award) $1,200 | (4th Award) $600 | Top Awards (selected from 1st Award winners) – George D. Yancopoulos Innovator Award ($100,000) | Regeneron Young Scientist Awards ($75,000 each)

Regeneron ISEF is the world’s biggest stage for high school researchers who have won at their local Society for Science–affiliated fairs. You compete individually or in a team of up to three, presenting a full research project directly to expert judges. You are eligible if you’re in grades 9–12 and qualify through an affiliated fair.

You might be building prosthetics in Biomedical Engineering or studying disease mechanisms in Biomedical and Health Sciences. Other tracks cover Animal Sciences, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy, Plant Sciences, and Robotics and Intelligent Machines.

Category winners earn tiered cash awards, and top finalists compete for some of the most prestigious youth STEM prizes in the world, including $100,000, $75,000, and $50,000 awards that can jumpstart your future research path.

We laid out the full Regeneron ISEF experience; take a look for more details.

2. Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS)

• Dates: (Top 300 Scholars Announced) January 7, 2026 | (Top 40 Finalists Announced) January 21, 2026 | (Finals Week) March 5–11, 2026 | (Public Exhibition of Projects) March 8, 2026 | (Winners Announced) March 10, 2026
• Location: Washington, D.C. (Finals Week + Exhibition)
• Prizes:  (Top 10 Awards) 1st: $250,000 | 2nd: $175,000 | 3rd: $150,000 | 4th: $100,000 | 5th: $90,000 | 6th: $80,000 | 7th: $70,000 | 8th: $60,000 | 9th: $50,000 | 10th: $40,000

Regeneron Science Talent Search is often called the “Junior Nobel Prize,” and it’s for high school seniors who’ve completed original, college-level research. You submit an individual project, along with essays, recommendations, and a detailed research paper. Eligibility is limited to U.S. citizens and permanent residents in their final year of high school.

You apply in the fall with your full research portfolio, and if you make the Top 40, you spend a week in Washington, D.C. to present your work, interview with PhD-level scientists, and participate in STEM panels.

The top 10 winners receive scholarships ranging from $40,000 to $250,000, making STS one of the highest-paying and most prestigious high school research competitions in the country.

As an extracurricular, STS sits at Tier 1. It’s in the same bracket as winning ISEF, competing at the international Olympiads, or publishing breakthrough research. For Ivy League and top STEM-focused schools, STS signals that you’re already operating at a level close to early undergraduate research.

You can read our complete breakdown of STS here.

3. Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS)

• Dates: Temporarily suspended as of October 2025
• Location: Regional sites nationwide; National Symposium is an in-person, all-expenses-paid event
• Prizes: ( Regional Awards) 1st: $2,000 | 2nd: $1,500 | 3rd: $1,000 (National Oral Competition) 1st: $12,000 | 2nd: $8,000 | 3rd: $4,000 | Total awards exceed $400,000 annually.

Junior Science and Humanities Symposium is a free, individual STEM competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense, where you can submit original research in science, engineering, or math and advance through regional and national levels.

If you’re in grades 9–12, you’ll first enter through your regional symposium, and the strongest projects move on to compete nationally. You can choose from several broad categories, including Environmental Science, Biomedical Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Mathematics and Computer Science, and Physical Sciences and Chemistry.

After submitting your written report, the top entries are invited to present at the regional level, where finalists can qualify for the National Symposium. The top two regional winners compete orally for major scholarships, while third through fifth place present posters for cash awards.

As an extracurricular, JSHS ranks around Tier 2, similar to strong state-level science fairs or selective national STEM programs. For research-focused and STEM-heavy schools, including the Ivy League, winning here shows that you can design a study and handle scientific competition, which adds significant weight to your academic profile.

Want the specifics on JSHS? We organized everything in one place.

4. Davidson Fellows Scholarship

• Dates: (Application deadline) February 11, 2026 |  Awarding: 2026 dates TBD
• Location: Scholarship program with recognition events hosted by the Davidson Institute
• Prizes: $100,000 | $50,000 | $25,000 scholarships

The Davidson Fellows Scholarship is one of the most selective awards you can earn as a high school student, and it’s open to anyone 18 or younger by the application deadline. You enter as an individual and submit a complete and documented project.

The project must be a significant piece of original work in any field, whether STEM, social sciences, or humanities. They even have an “Outside the Box” category for projects that don’t fit neatly into the already-existing categories.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents residing in the U.S. Alongside your project, you’ll also need to submit the online application form, nominator forms, intellectual property statement, and other category-specific attachments that depend on your chosen field.

Becoming a Davidson Fellow is widely regarded as a Tier 1 extracurricular. It sits in the same league as winning ISEF, STS, or earning an international Olympiad medal. For Ivy League and other research-driven universities, a Davidson award signals that you’re already operating at a high level.

Check out our complete overview of the Davidson Fellows Scholarship to get the complete picture.

5. BioGENEius Challenge

• Dates: State and regional qualifiers vary; application deadline (May 13, 2026)
• Location: BioFuture Conference at the CURE Innovation Campus, New York City
• Prizes: Global Challenge category awards; top finalists advance to the International BioGENEius Challenge with funding, fellowships, and industry recognition.

The BioGENEius Challenge is an individual competition where you’ll present a full research project to judges working in biotech, academia, and related industries. Eligibility generally spans high school students who are already working on advanced research in life sciences, engineering, or biotech applications. You qualify through regional or state science competitions, and the strongest projects move on to the national stage in New York City.

The competition has three themed tracks:

• Global Healthcare Challenge. Focuses on work that could impact human health, including novel therapeutics and diagnostics, vaccines, drug delivery systems, and computational bioinformatics tools aimed at improving medical outcomes.
• Global Sustainability Challenge. Looks at agricultural biotechnology, including crop engineering, soil and yield improvements, disease control, food security, and AI-driven agricultural modeling.
• Global Environment Challenge. Centers on industrial and environmental biotechnology, like biodegradable materials, bioremediation, biofuels, emissions reduction, and resource-efficient biological processes.

If you advance to the International BioGENEius Challenge, you present with global finalists at major industry conferences, which can open doors to funding, mentorship, and even startup opportunities. Past participants have earned fellowships, grants, and research partnerships thanks to the visibility BioGENEius provides.

As an extracurricular, BioGENEius is a Tier 2 competition, ranking just below elite programs such as ISEF and STS, yet still highly respected by Ivy League and top 20 colleges.

We put together a breakdown of BioGENEius Challenge; feel free to explore it.

6. Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision

• Dates: (Project deadline) February 3, 2026
• Location: Virtual submission; national finalists attend Awards Week in Washington, D.C.
• Prizes: 1st Prize (4 teams) $10,000 U.S. EE Savings Bond per student | 2nd Prize (4 teams) $5,000 U.S. EE Savings Bond per student | National Finalists (8 teams): Trip to Washington, D.C. for Awards Week | Regional Winners (24 teams): Chromebook per student + school award ceremony, banner, and certificates

ExploraVision is a team-based competition where you take an existing piece of technology and reimagine how it could evolve over 20 years. You compete in teams of 2–4 students with a coach and an optional mentor, and you enter one of four categories based on grade level (K–3, 4–6, 7–9, or 10–12).

Eligibility includes U.S. and Canadian students, DoDEA schools abroad, and homeschoolers. Your submission includes an abstract, an 11-page project description, a bibliography, and mock web pages that explain and visualize your future tech idea. Your idea must also be backed by science.

ExploraVision sits around Tier 3 as an extracurricular.  It’s not as research-heavy as ISEF or STS, but top performance still looks great on applications since it challenges your creativity and ability to explain your ideas clearly.

We laid out the full ExploraVision experience;  take a look for more details.

7. Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP)

• Dates: National competitions vary; international finals take place during World Water Week each August
• Location: International finals held in Stockholm, Sweden
• Prizes: (International Winner) Cash prize plus global recognition at World Water Week | Diploma of Excellence (runner-up honors) | People’s Choice Award

The Stockholm Junior Water Prize is an international research competition for students aged 15–20 that’s focused on solving water challenges. You start by entering your country’s national competition with an individual or team research project.

Each country selects a national winner who represents them in Stockholm, where finalists are judged by an international panel of water experts. The award ceremony is a major event during World Water Week and includes recognition from H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden.

Past finalists have developed flood warning systems, low-cost distillation technologies, AI-powered leak detection, biodegradable materials, and innovative solutions for improving water access or reducing environmental harm.

SJWP ranks as a Tier 2 extracurricular, especially if you win your national competition or earn a global award. For colleges, especially research-driven schools and STEM-leaning Ivy League programs, reaching the international finals is an achievement that strengthens your application.

8. Conrad Challenge

• Dates: (Activation Stage) Aug. 28, 2025 – Oct. 30, 2025 | (Innovation Stage) Oct. 31, 2025 – Jan. 8, 2026 | (Innovation Summit) Apr. 22–25, 2026
• Location: Fully virtual until the Innovation Summit (held in person)
• Prizes: All-expenses-paid international trip for Pete Conrad Scholars | Free patent support | Scholarships, including the Lewis & Clark $15,000/year award (up to $60,000 total)

The Conrad Challenge requires you to work in a team to design an innovation that solves a problem that falls under one of five categories:

• The Water Challenge
• Health and Nutrition
• Energy and Environment
• Aerospace and Aviation
• Cyber Technology and Security

The competition runs in three stages from August to April. Teams of 2 to 5 students enter from all over the world, and as long as you meet the age requirements (which is 13-18 years old), you can return year after year with new ideas.

If your team advances to the Innovation Summit, you’ll pitch your solution to industry experts and entrepreneurs. At this stage, finalists compete for scholarships and the title of Pete Conrad Scholar.

Winning, or even becoming a finalist, in the Conrad Challenge falls around Tier 2 and signals that you’re already thinking like a problem solver.

You can read our complete breakdown of the Conrad Challenge here.

9. MIT THINK Scholars Program

• Dates: (Application deadline) January 1, 2026 | (Finalists announced) February 2026 | (Finalist trip to MIT) February 2026 | (Project Completion + Final Presentations) June 2026
• Location: MIT campus (for finalist visit + mentorship activities)
• Prizes: All-expenses-paid trip to MIT | up to $1,000 in project funding | weekly mentorship from MIT students

The MIT THINK Scholars Program allows you to build your dream projects with support from MIT. Instead of submitting a finished research project, you submit a STEM-innovative proposal. THINK is open to U.S. high school students and especially encourages applicants from under-resourced backgrounds. After a two-round selection process (proposal review and interview), up to six finalists are chosen to become official THINK Scholars.

As a finalist, you get a fully funded trip to MIT and meet professors, talk about, and work on your project with graduate researchers. After the trip, you work on your project throughout the spring with weekly mentorship from MIT undergraduates. The program reimburses up to $1,000 to build your prototype or carry out your research, and in June, you present your final results to the THINK team and MIT students.

THINK lands solidly in Tier 2, similar to the Conrad Challenge or national-level research mentorship programs. It’s selective, research-driven, and gives you access to MIT resources.

10. Breakthrough Junior Challenge

• Dates: (Submission Deadline) September 15, 2025 | (Winner Announcement) December 10, 2025
• Location: Global competition (fully online)
• Prizes: $250,000 post-secondary scholarship | $50,000 prize for your teacher | $100,000 Breakthrough Science Lab for your school

The Breakthrough Junior Challenge requires you to turn a scientific idea into a short video that the general public can easily understand, even if they don’t have a strong background in science. You can choose a concept from any field of science like physics, mathematics, or life sciences and explain it in a two-minute video using visuals, animations, demonstrations, or anything else that helps you communicate your idea effectively.

Anyone aged 13–18 can participate, and submissions are accepted from anywhere in the world. After you upload your video, you also participate in the peer-to-peer review, where you score other students’ entries, a required step if you want to be eligible for the big scholarship. Your video is judged on how engaging, creative, clear, and challenging it is.

Breakthrough Junior Challenge sits firmly in Tier 2, and a strong performance here signals that you can explain complex scientific ideas effectively.

11. Destination Imagination (DI)

• Dates: (Team numbers available) July 15, 2025 | full 2025–26 challenges release)  August 1, 2025
• Location: Global team-based competition (regional, state, and Global Finals sites vary)
• Prizes: Awards vary by region and challenge; Global Finals teams receive recognition, medals, and opportunities to showcase their work on an international stage

Destination Imagination is a team-driven competition where you and your group pick a challenge and spend the season designing a solution. You enter as a team (usually 2–7 students), and each challenge is completely new every year. DI covers everything from engineering and technical design to storytelling, structure testing, improv, and service learning.

Teams work from August through spring and present their solution at tournaments, where judges score both your planned challenge and a surprise “Instant Challenge” that tests quick thinking.

For 2025–26, two standout challenges are the Technical Challenge and the Engineering Challenge. In Win It Big, the Technical Challenge, you design your own game show, while the Engineering Challenge asks you to build a structure capable of holding weight as far from its center as possible. In both challenges, teams add two “Team Choice Elements” that highlight their strengths and interests.

DI falls around Tier 3. Strong placements at regional or Global Finals show leadership and creative problem-solving.

12. TOPSS Competition for High School Students

• Dates: Annual competition (2025–26 deadline TBD)
• Location: Fully online video submission
• Prizes: Up to three winners receive a $300 scholarship award

The TOPSS Competition is an individual competition that requires you to create a video up to 3 minutes long that explains how psychology helps us understand and counter misinformation.

The challenge is open to all current high school students worldwide, and each school can submit up to five entries. Your video must clearly connect to content from the National Standards for High School Psychology.

To qualify, your video must define misinformation, explain at least one relevant psychological concept (like confirmation bias, memory errors, heuristics, or persuasion), and summarize a published research study in your own words. You’ll also give an example of how psychological science can reduce the spread of misinformation and end with an APA-style reference slide.

TOPSS is considered Tier 4 because it’s a niche competition with smaller prizes, but it still adds value to your college application especially if you’re aiming for psychology, neuroscience, education, communication, or social science programs.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the best research competitions for high school students in 2025–2026?

Some of the most respected research competitions include the Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), Regeneron ISEF, JSHS, Davidson Fellows Scholarship, BioGENEius Challenge, Conrad Challenge, MIT THINK Scholars Program, Stockholm Junior Water Prize, and the Breakthrough Junior Challenge. Each competition focuses on different aspects of research, innovation, or science communication.

2. Are there free research competitions for high school students?

Yes. Several research competitions are free to enter, including MIT THINK, JSHS, the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, the Stockholm Junior Water Prize, and Regeneron STS. Others, like Conrad Challenge, charge registration or team fees.

3. What skills do research competitions for high school students develop?

Research competitions build skills in experimental design, data analysis, problem-solving, scientific writing, innovation, and presentation. Many also help you practice long-term project management, collaboration, and communicating complex ideas clearly.

4. How do research competitions for high school students help with college admissions?

Strong performance in research competitions can significantly boost your application by demonstrating intellectual curiosity, passion for STEM, and the ability to produce original work. Competitions like STS, ISEF, Davidson Fellows, and MIT THINK are considered Tier 1 or Tier 2 achievements and stand out at Ivy League and top STEM-focused universities.

5. When should I apply for research competitions for high school students?

Most research competitions open applications between late summer and early winter, with submissions due from December through March. Some, like Breakthrough Junior Challenge or Conrad Challenge, have early fall deadlines. It’s best to check dates early, especially for competitions requiring multi-stage submissions or regional qualifiers.

Takeaways

• Research competitions for high school students show that you’re genuinely into STEM and willing to take on long-term projects outside the classroom. These projects can range from research papers covering new topics to videos that explain a tough concept.
• Big-name programs like Regeneron STS, ISEF, Davidson Fellows, JSHS, BioGENEius, MIT THINK, and the Conrad Challenge give you awards and recognition that can improve your college applications, especially for the Ivy League and other top schools.
• If you want help figuring out which competitions fit your goals (or how to make your project more competitive), working with a college admissions advisor can make the whole process less overwhelming and more guided.