Explore the top cancer research competitions with helpful tips in this blog! Participating in these competitions grows your knowledge and skills in the field while showcasing your talent and passion.
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Top Cancer Research Competitions for High Schoolers 2024
International Science and Engineering Fair
The International Science and Engineering Fair is the largest pre-college STEM program, where finals take place in May. Students are welcome to create their own science project, where they will present their findings at the state, national, and eventually, international level. Most state science fairs have deadlines sometime in February or March.
International BioGENEius Challenge
The International BioGENEius Challenge is a prestigious competition that allows high schoolers to showcase their research in the field of biotechnology. It provides a platform for young scientists to present their original research projects in different Challenge Tracks. The competition includes and encourages healthcare among the range of topics.
Organizers typically invite winners of national competitions in participating countries or regions to compete in the International BioGENEius Challenge. The application pool is open until May 17th, and your research project must be presentable.
Breakthrough Junior Challenge
The Breakthrough Junior Challenge is an annual, global science video competition for high-school students. Students must create a video explaining a concept in one of these fields:
- Physics
- Life Sciences
- Mathematics
The video must be 2:00 minutes long or under. The competition opened this April and is due at the end of June.
Cancer Grand Challenge
Cancer Grand Challenges aims to provide funding for interdisciplinary research teams worldwide whose novel ideas offer the greatest potential to advance bold cancer research and improve outcomes for people affected by cancer. Within the challenge, there are different challenges teams can tackle with the context and background given. From there, teams analyze the next steps to combat the problem.
Though highly competitive, students are open to a whole new experience. Winners earn up to $25 million over the next five years to progress against cancer. The deadline for this challenge ends sometime in April.
Conrad Challenge
The Conrad Challenge is an annual challenge for high schoolers to create a multi-phase entrepreneurial project to solve an important problem, such as cancer. You begin with a 2-5 member group and brainstorm in August, where you’ll bring your innovations to life and record a video for submission.
If you’re a student between the ages of 13 and 18, you’re eligible to join. Any student across the globe is free to compete!
Cancer Unwrapped Competition
Cancer Unwrapped is for individuals who have learned about a cancer diagnosis – your own or that of a loved one – and to write about that experience. This challenge is a writing competition to earn $1,000 to share your experience of what it was like hearing somebody had been diagnosed with cancer.
This competition is open to students in the United States in grades 9-12, and submissions should not exceed 1,500 words. The deadline is March 3rd, and although it’s closed for the year 2024, keep an eye out for it next year!
Interested in winning?
Check out Rishab’s A-Z Science Fair Masterclass, full of strategies and techniques guaranteed to increase your chances of winning at highly competitive programs like ISEF!
Image source: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
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