Eight opportunities this week, across STEM, writing, scholarships, and humanities.

🏆 Competition · Tech & Computing  ·  Deadline: April 20, 2026

For girls who want to build something real - an app, an AI tool, a solution to a problem they see in their community - and get mentorship from people already working in tech.

Over 10 weeks, you build a working mobile app or AI project with a mentor, then pitch it to judges. No advanced coding required to start. Teams of up to five can apply together.

Open to all girls 8-18. You can recruit teammates from your school or apply solo and get matched. Registration deadline is March 18, 2026, but project submission is due in April.

Apply here →

🏆 Competition · Science  ·  Deadline: April 17, 2026

If space genuinely fascinates you, and you want to find out how you compare with students who feel the same way.

You work through astronomy and astrophysics problems at an international level and get a ranked result. The early rounds are accessible even if you haven't done olympiads before. It's a way to discover how far your curiosity can take you, and to push yourself to go further.

You register individually and can start from any level. Past questions are available on their site to help you prepare.

Apply here →

📚 Program · Research  ·  Deadline: April 05, 2026

If you've ever wanted to go deeper into a subject than school allows - biology, computer science, economics, neuroscience, anything - and actually produce something at the end of it.

You're matched one-on-one with a university professor and spend the summer on a real research project. You write a research paper. The experience is as close to university-level academic work as you'll get in secondary school. It's intensive, and that's the point.

There is a program fee, though financial aid is available. Check eligibility and funding options on their site.

Apply here →

⛺ Camp · Mathematics  ·  Deadline: April 28, 2026

If you love mathematics - not just solving problems quickly, but actually thinking about why things are true - and want to spend a summer surrounded by people who feel the same way.

A residential summer program in the US focused on serious mathematical thinking. You explore topics you'd never encounter in school, work collaboratively on hard problems, and develop the kind of mathematical maturity that changes how you think permanently. Financial aid is available for international students.

International students are welcome and have attended before. Check the financial aid section - it covers travel for some students.

Apply here →

🎓 Scholarship · Scholarship  ·  Deadline: May 15, 2026

For academically strong Kenyan students who deserve access to an excellent secondary school but cannot afford the fees.

Full funding - tuition, accommodation, meals - to attend M-Pesa Foundation Academy in Thika, one of Kenya's top secondary schools. This isn't a certificate or a ranking. It changes what school you go to and what doors open from there.

Open to Kenyan students currently final year of junior secondary school. Check the site for exact grade and age requirements.

Apply here →

🏆 Competition · Writing  ·  Deadline: April 03, 2026

For students who like questions that don't have obvious answers - the kind that require you to think from first principles, take a position, and defend it honestly.

You write one essay on a prompt that pushes you to think unconventionally. The discipline of building a real argument - not summarising what others think, but actually deciding what you believe and why - is the main thing you take away. Top essays get published and recognised.

Read past prompts on their site before you apply - the style is distinctive and worth knowing beforehand.

Apply here →

🏆 Competition · Writing  ·  Deadline: April 30, 2026

For students who want to write about something that matters to them - identity, community, the future, change - and have that writing read by an international audience.

One of the oldest and largest writing competitions for young people in the Commonwealth. You write on a theme that changes each year - past themes have covered belonging, environment, and justice. Winners are published and invited to an awards ceremony.

Kenya is a Commonwealth member so you are fully eligible. Free to enter. Both junior (under 14) and senior (14-18) categories.

Apply here →

🏆 Competition · Humanities  ·  Deadline: March 31, 2026

If you enjoy thinking through hard questions in philosophy, politics, economics, history, or law, and want to write something that actually argues a position rather than summarises one.

You pick a discipline, choose a prompt, and write a long-form essay up to 2000 words. The prompts are genuinely difficult - they require you to develop and defend an original view. Top essays win cash prizes. Even the act of submitting forces you to think at a level most students never reach in school.

Free to enter. Open to all secondary school students globally. Past winning essays are on their site - worth reading before you write.

Apply here →

Sent every Friday. Know someone who should see this? Forward it along.