What Are the Best Online Science Competitions for Middle and High School Students?

Online Science Competitions for High School and Middle School Students

An online science competition is one your student can enter from home with a video, a PDF or an online application, and most of the best ones cost nothing to enter. A few can be completed entirely online. Most of the prestigious ones use an online entry as the front door and finish with an in-person final in Washington, D.C., Houston or St. Paul. That matters most for homeschoolers, rural students and families without a local science fair, because the starting line is now digital even when the finish line is not.

The table below shows how online each competition really is. The sections after it cover the ones your student can enter from home, then the ones that start online and finish in person.

Quick-Reference: How Online Is Each Competition?

Deadlines shift slightly each year, so confirm the exact date on each competition’s official page before your student starts.

Fully Online Entry: Competitions You Can Complete from Home

These need no prior fair placement, no lab and no mentor, and they charge no entry fee. The whole submission happens online. If you are asking what your child can enter from the kitchen table this season, start here.

3M Young Scientist Challenge (grades 5–8)

This is the most accessible prestigious science competition in the country for middle schoolers. Students submit a one to two minute video proposing an original solution to an everyday problem using science. A phone camera is enough, and judges are scoring thinking, not production quality. There is no research paper, no physical exhibit and no travel required to enter.

Entries are judged on creativity, scientific knowledge, persuasiveness and communication, and overall presentation. Recent project categories have included robotics, home improvement, automotive, safety, AR/VR and climate technology. Ten finalists are paired with a 3M scientist for a summer of remote mentoring, then compete in person at the 3M Innovation Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, for a $25,000 grand prize and the title of America’s Top Young Scientist. 3M covers finalist costs.

Eligibility is limited to U.S. residents in grades 5–8, including homeschoolers, entering as individuals. Students must be at least 10 years old. The entry deadline falls in April, and entries go through YoungScientistLab.com. Past finalists have gone on to give TED Talks and file patents, which is a lot of reach for a one-minute video.

National STEM Challenge by EXPLR (grades 6–12)

This project-based competition runs entirely through online submissions. Students build a PDF presentation of up to three pages that proposes a solution to a real-world problem using the scientific method or the engineering design process. There is no video to produce and no fair to attend. Roughly 200 National Champions are invited to the National STEM Festival in Washington, D.C., which is co-presented with the U.S. Department of Education.

Themes include environmental stewardship, future foods, health and medicine, powering the planet, space innovation and tech for good. Projects with concrete, testable methods tend to score better than purely theoretical proposals. Because the submission window has opened in the autumn in past cycles, this is a good fit for a student who wants something to work on during the fall semester.

Online Application, In-Person Fair: Competitions That Start Digital and Go Physical

These are the competitions that anchor serious pre-college research in the United States. The application and paperwork are online, but the judging, the finals or both are in person. You can prepare from anywhere, and the entry point is often a regional fair rather than a school, so homeschooled and independent students can register directly with a nearby Society for Science-affiliated fair.

Regeneron Science Talent Search (grade 12)

The oldest and most prestigious competition for high school seniors, running since 1942, is also one of the few top-tier competitions with a fully online application and no prerequisite fair. Students submit an original research paper of up to 20 pages, essays, recommendations and transcripts through the Society for Science portal. The research can be done anywhere. Only the 40 finalists travel to Washington, D.C., where awards reach $250,000.

Around 2,500 seniors apply each year, and 300 are named scholars. The review is holistic, so judges weigh the student’s potential as a future STEM leader alongside the research itself. Entries are individual only, with no team projects. Applications open in June and close in early November, so a senior with research in hand should check the Society for Science site now rather than later. STS alumni include 13 Nobel Prize winners.

Conrad Challenge (ages 13–18)

The Conrad Challenge is a global innovation and entrepreneurship competition for teams of two to five students with an adult coach. It is one of the most workable options for international and remote students, because teammates can live in different cities or countries. The early stages are completed online, and only the Innovation Summit at Space Center Houston requires attendance.

What sets it apart from a science fair is that the team must pair its technical idea with a business case, including a Lean Canvas, a written brief and a video. Categories include aerospace and aviation, cyber-technology and security, energy and environment, and health and nutrition. The first stage is free to enter, but the Innovation Stage carries a $499 per-team fee, so families should budget for it before committing. Registration typically opens in late summer and closes in late October, and the summit takes place each April.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge (grades 6–8)

The Thermo Fisher JIC has an online application, but it opens only for students nominated after placing in the top 10% of middle school participants at a Society for Science-affiliated regional fair, so the way in is in person. Finalists compete for up to $25,000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., and our full JIC guide: covers eligibility, essays and timing.

Regeneron ISEF (grades 9–12)

Regeneron ISEF is the largest pre-college science fair in the world, and the full pathway from affiliated fair to international finals is in person, with only forms and preparation resources online. About 1,800 finalists from more than 75 countries compete for over $9 million in awards, and our guide to ISEF explains how to qualify.

If you are looking for competitions that are entirely in person? See our full list of the top 30 STEM competitions for students.

How to Prepare for an Online Science Competition

Knowing which competitions exist is the easy part. The harder part is producing work strong enough to place, and the encouraging news for families focused on online access is that most of that work can happen remotely.

Start with the question of whether your student needs a mentor. For the 3M Young Scientist Challenge and the National STEM Challenge, a supportive parent or teacher who asks good questions is enough. For lab-based biology, chemistry or biomedical projects, a mentor is effectively the lab access, and most STS scholars and ISEF finalists have worked with one. Computational, environmental and engineering projects can often be done independently, though a mentor still saves weeks of dead ends. Mentorship also works well over video calls, so a student in a small town can work with a PhD mentor across the country. Our guide on how to find a mentor in grades 6–12 walks through cold outreach, realistic response rates and structured programs.

Parents without a science background are not at a disadvantage here. The most useful role is project manager. Work backward from the deadline to set dates for background reading, data collection and drafting, and ask questions such as “What made you choose that variable?” instead of supplying answers. Treat a failed experiment as information, because a student who learns that early will take on more ambitious projects.

Writing is the other half of the work. STS requires a full research paper, the Conrad Challenge requires a brief, and the Thermo Fisher JIC requires essays. Practicing on a short summary first helps, and our guide to writing a research abstract for science competitions and fairs shows how.

Cost is usually manageable. A project built on public datasets costs nothing beyond a laptop. Lab projects can run higher, so confirm up front whether a university mentor’s lab covers consumables, and ask your school’s science department about discretionary funds.

Finally, start earlier than seems necessary. The students who reach the national stage are rarely the most gifted. They began sooner, finished what they started and treated each competition as practice for the next one.

Which Competition Should Your Student Enter First?

For a student in grades 5–8, the 3M Young Scientist Challenge is the natural first step. It is fully online, the video format is low-pressure, and it teaches a student to state a scientific question clearly. If the April deadline has passed, use the time to find your nearest Society for Science-affiliated fair through its Fair Finder tool and note the registration window for next season. Middle schoolers with a data-driven project can also look at the National STEM Challenge.

For grades 9–11, the National STEM Challenge and the Conrad Challenge are the strongest online options, especially for a student who wants to work with teammates or has a product idea. Students with a serious research question should begin looking for a mentor now, since that search takes months, and should aim at the regional fair route toward ISEF.

For seniors, the Regeneron Science Talent Search is the capstone. If your student already has independent research, check the current application window right away. If not, the research story they build this year will still carry into college essays and interviews.

Whichever you choose, read the official rules page first. Eligibility, fees and dates change, and a few minutes of checking can save a student from missing a deadline.