Here are ten of the top AI competitions for high school students. Eligibility and prizes change year to year, so confirm the current details with each.
1. World Artificial Intelligence Competition for Youth (WAICY)
WAICY is an international competition where young people present AI projects, from machine learning models to robotics, to a panel of judges. It rewards creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration.
Eligibility: students aged 13-18 worldwide, individually or in teams.
Award: trophies and certificates, plus internship, mentorship, and scholarship opportunities for top performers.
2. Imagine Cup Junior (Microsoft)
Imagine Cup Junior is a global Microsoft competition where students use technology, including AI, to tackle real-world problems, from AI-powered apps to robotics, with a focus on creativity and collaboration.
Eligibility: students aged 13-18 worldwide, individually or in teams.
Award: certificates, trophies, and the chance to present on a global stage.
3. Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)
ISEF is the world’s largest pre-college science competition. It isn’t AI-only, but many projects use AI techniques. Students present independent research across computer science, engineering, biology, and more.
Eligibility: high school students worldwide (typically 14-18) who qualify through affiliated regional and national fairs.
Award: scholarships, internships, and recognition from leading scientists, with more than $9 million in total awards.
4. AIcrowd Challenges
AIcrowd hosts a range of AI competitions on real-world problems across computer vision, natural language processing, reinforcement learning, and more. Participants build algorithms and models to solve specific challenges.
Eligibility: individuals and teams worldwide with skills in machine learning, data science, and programming.
Award: varies by competition, often cash prizes, recognition, and internship opportunities.
5. Kaggle Competitions
Kaggle hosts data science and machine learning competitions posed by companies, organizations, and researchers, across predictive modeling, image classification, NLP, and more. You work with provided datasets to build and tune models.
Eligibility: individuals and teams worldwide, all skill levels welcome.
Award: varies by competition, often cash prizes, plus career opportunities and visibility in the data science community.
Free Student STEM Guide with 50+ opportunities and competitions
6. ExploraVision
ExploraVision, run by Toshiba and the National Science Teaching Association, asks student teams to envision a technology 10 or more years into the future, grounded in current research. AI is a natural fit for many entries.
Eligibility: US or Canadian citizens enrolled full-time in a public, private, or home school, residing in the US, US territories, or Canada.
- First prize (4 teams): each student receives a US EE Savings Bond worth $10,000 at maturity.
- Second prize (4 teams): each student receives a savings bond worth $5,000 at maturity.
- National finalists get a trip to Washington, DC for the ExploraVision Awards Weekend.
- Regional winners receive a Chromebook and a school awards ceremony.
- Honorable mentions and all participants receive prizes and certificates.
7. Numerai Signals
Numerai Signals is a data science tournament where participants use machine learning to predict the stock market from high-quality, obfuscated datasets. It’s a tough, open quant competition.
Eligibility: data scientists worldwide comfortable with machine learning and large datasets (note: it’s advanced, and aimed at experienced participants).
Award: leaderboard recognition and the chance to stake on your models for cryptocurrency rewards.
8. OpenCV AI Competition
The OpenCV AI Competition invites participants to build AI models using the OpenCV library, across challenges from robotics to healthcare, using computer vision. There are no hardware or language restrictions.
Eligibility: individuals or teams worldwide, beginners or professionals.
Award: cash, online learning programs, and certificates, plus a community popular-vote prize.
Top 10 Science Fair Competitions for High School Students
9. VEX AI Competition
The VEX AI Competition, run by the REC Foundation, has teams design, build, and program two robots that work together autonomously, using tools like VEX GPS, the VEX AI Vision System, and sensor fusion for object detection and real-time data sharing.
Eligibility: high school and college students worldwide with an interest in robotics, engineering, and computer science.
Award: the main reward is hands-on skill development; specific prizes vary.
10. Intel AI Global Impact Festival
The Intel AI Global Impact Festival is a celebration of AI innovation, bringing together students, educators, academia, and communities to showcase AI solutions, with games, talks, and competitions. (Check whether it’s running in the current year, as the schedule varies.)
Eligibility: students, educators, and organizations worldwide. Students and educators interested in competing can contact info@aiglobalimpactfestival.org.
Award: Intel certificates and awards through competitions and micro-learning series.
Resources to win STEM competitions
Rishab Jain, an ISEF winner, has done well across many research competitions. To start preparing, he offers science fair coaching and a YouTube playlist on how to do research, where he shares his strategies.
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