Scientific Opportunities for Teens

Hey everyone, you all must have searched for or competed in contests to learn, to have fun, to meet new people sharing your interests or to win prizes. So, here we present to you a lot of opportunities to participate in. Check them out, there are some very wonderful opportunities. Have fun.

Note: All opportunities are international unless indicated otherwise. Age ranges have not been indicated. Also, there are a huge number of science-related opportunities for teenagers; these are only some of them.

1. Science Contests

Project-oriented Contests

This section contains the contest and opportunities in which you can learn by making projects. This section contains science fairs and similar competitions where you can learn and compete by making projects. Attending science fairs is fun as you can make interesting and cool projects, you should give them a try for sure.

1. Destination Imagination

2. Intel International Science and Engineering Fair

3. Google Science Fair

4. Regeneron Science Talent Search (USA residents and citizens only)

5. MIT THINK Scholars (USA residents only)

6. CERN Beamline for Schools

7. MathWorks Math Modelling Challenge (USA residents only)

8. High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling

9. FIRST Robotics Competitions

10. Technovation Challenge

11. VEX Robotics Competitions

12. Clean Tech Competition

13. Conrad Challenge

14. Envirothon (North America)

15. Junior Science and Humanities Symposia (USA residents only)

16. Swift Student Challenge

17. Congressional App Challenge (USA residents only)

18. Microsoft Imagine Cup

19. International BioGENEius Challenge

20. International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition

21. International Young Eco-Hero Awards

22. ExploraVision (North America)

23. NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge

24. RoboCup Competitions

25. Rube Goldberg Contest

26. National Robotics Challenge (USA residents only)

27. Google's Coding Competitions

28. Global Game Jam

Academic Contests

This section contains some great academic contests, divided among regional and global competitions. These contests are really wonderful because they force you to think beyond what is taught in school, and can help you find your passion.

National / Regional:

1. Science Olympiad (USA)

2. National Science Bowl (USA)

3. American Mathematics Competitions (USA)

4. MATHCOUNTS (USA)

5. British Physics Olympiad (UK)

6. UK Chemistry Olympiad (UK)

7. British Biology Olympiad (UK)

8. The British Informatics Olympiad (UK)

9. Asian Physics Olympiad (Asia region)

10. Asian-Pacific Astronomy Olympiad (Asia-Pacific region)

11. Iberoamerican Mathematical Olympiad (Latin America and Iberia)

12. European Union Science Olympiad (EU)

13. Asian Pacific Mathematical Olympiad (Asia-Pacific Region)

14. National Ocean Sciences Bowl (USA)

International / Global:

1. The International Mathematical Olympiad

2. The International Physics Olympiad

3. The International Biology Olympiad

4. The International Chemistry Olympiad

5. The International Olympiad in Informatics

6. International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad

7. The International Olympiad in Astronomy

8. The International Geography Olympiad

9. International Earth Science Olympiad

10. Harvard-MIT Math Tournament (HMMT)

11. International Astronomy and Astrophysics Competition

12. Unicus Science Olympiad

13. Unicus Mathematics Olympiad

14. Unicus Cyber Olympiad

15. CREST Cyber Olympiad

16. CREST Mathematics Olympiad

17. CREST Science Olympiad

18. Online Math Open

19. Purple Comet Math Meet

20. International Mendeleev Olympiad

21. International Mathematical Kangaroo

22. University of Waterloo CEMC Contests

23. International Brain Bee

Science Writing Contests

This section is for the people who are interested in science writing or want to discover their skills in science writing.

1. Sci4Teens Contest

2. New York Times Science Writing Contest

3. American Society of Human Genetics DNA Day

4. River of Words Contest

Science Internships and Research

Summer Programs (at a university / lab / company)

1. The Summer Science Program

2. Math and Science Scholars at the University of Michigan

3. Research in Science and Engineering at Boston University

4. QuarkNet Summer Research Program at Fermilab

5. Research Science Institute

6. Leap Forward

There are many sources on the internet that help you to find research positions and internships in your area. These three links have a collection of science and technology related summer programs, most based in the US: first, second, third.

Independent Research

If you have a research topic in mind and your school has laboratory spaces and equipment, you can ask your science teacher on how to get started on a research project to be conducted at school!

How To Cold Email Professors

Step 1: Narrow down your research topic. For instance, if you are interested in biology, you can narrow it down to an area such as protein folding. Make sure your topic is specific, but not specific to the point where it is very difficult to find professors who research it.

Step 2: Look into professors who conduct research on your topic at nearby universities.

Step 3: Start drafting emails. Remember to introduce yourself, explain what you want to research and why you would like to work with the professor.

Step 4: Send the emails and wait for responses. Sometimes you may get a late reply or no reply at all. Regardless, try to find new professors to email or new opportunities to get started on your research.

Publication Opportunities

1. Young Scientists Journal

2. Teen Ink

Also, you may look into science journals specific to your research topic. If you have worked with a professor, it may be easier to be published.

Advanced Science Courses / Lessons

In-person

Here, we have listed some in-person programs that you can attend. Check them out:

1. Columbia Science Honors Program (Columbia University area only)

2. Student Academy of Knowledge (Philadelphia only)

3. Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellites Studies (CIMSS) & Space Science & Engineering Center (SSEC)

4. Engineering Summer Program (ESP)

5. Information Technology Academy (ITA)

6. Promoting Computational Science Initiative (ProCSI)

MOOCs

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are free online courses through which you can learn new skills and receive certificates highlighting your skills. Check out some of the platforms which provide these courses:

1. MIT OpenCourseware

2. Coursera

3. edX

4. FutureLearn

5. Udemy

6. Udacity

Textbooks

Here, we have listed some online open libraries, where you can access free books and texts to help you with learning.

1. OpenStax

2. Open Textbook Library

3. Open Library

4. California Open Online Library for Education

Other Online Resources

Here, we have listed some of the platforms where you can access some other online courses.

1. Khan Academy: Has many science related videos, including Advanced Placement courses. Aside from videos, there are also many quizzes that ensure you have understood the topic.

2. Beyond the Five: A non-profit organization (founded by a college student at Johns Hopkins), which provides free college-level courses.

3. Organic Chemistry Tutor: Has science videos across many topics.

4. Crash Course: This channel is not limited to scientific videos. Many

5. Ted-ED: Provides short, animated videos on interesting topics - not all are science-related.

6. AsapSCIENCE: Has educational and interesting science videos.

7. Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell: Well researched and fun animated videos on scientific topics.

8. Professor Dave Explains: Also has educational science-related videos.

9. Center for Talented Youth Online Courses: You can take more advanced courses here.

Other Leadership / Executive Positions

Start your own club: Taking initiative is a quality that will lead you far in your career as a scientist as well as strengthen your resume. If your school does not have a club for a science contest or activity you would like to do, speak with a science teacher or the person/people responsible for organizing the clubs at your school and start your own club!

Networking: Networking is a great way to find out about different scientific opportunities! There are many different Discord and Slack communities where people promote their own STEM organizations. You can even find opportunities on the Sci4Teens Community Slack.