Application FAQ.

Students who are:

• in Grade 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12 at the time of application;
• at least 13 years old by April 11, 2027;
• ordinarily living in one of the 56 U.S. Competition Regions; and
• submitting an individual project.

You do not need to be a U.S. citizen.

The 2027 U.S. Competition accepts applications only from students who are at least 13 years old by the application deadline.

If you will still be under 13 on April 11, 2027, you are not eligible for this application cycle.

Read the Application Privacy Notice.

Only if you turn 13 on or before April 11, 2027.

Grade Level and age requirements both apply.

Yes.

Home-school and home-educated students in Grades 7–12 are eligible as long as they meet the other Competition requirements.

Yes.

Students may attend public, charter, private, magnet, career and technical, DoDEA or other recognized Grade 7–12 education settings.

Yes.

Eligible students attending Department of Defense Education Activity schools may apply.

Competition Region is determined using the residence and military-address rules described in the Official Rules.

No.

Citizenship is not an eligibility requirement.

You must ordinarily reside in an eligible U.S. Competition Region and meet the other eligibility requirements.

The Competition includes:

• all 50 states;
• District of Columbia & Armed Forces (AA, AE, AP);
• American Samoa;
• Guam;
• Northern Mariana Islands;
• Puerto Rico; and
• U.S. Virgin Islands.

Your Competition Region is based on your usual home address, not where your school is located.

Use the Competition Region where you usually live.

No.

The National STEM Festival U.S. Competition is for individual projects only.

No.

Each entry must represent the individual applicant's own work and contribution.

Two students should not submit the same shared team project as separate individual entries.

One.

Each applicant may submit one Competition entry.

Yes.

Returning participants may apply with a materially different project or a substantially developed version of earlier work that includes meaningful new investigation, testing, development or innovation.

Applications open January 11, 2027.

Applications close April 11, 2027 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.

Don't wait until the final minutes. Uploads, video permissions and internet connections have a remarkable talent for becoming dramatic at deadlines.

No.

The application does not have a save-and-return feature.

Prepare your written responses, Project PDF and Project Video before you begin.

See the Application Guide.

About 20–30 minutes once your materials are ready.

Have these ready:

• your written project responses;
• your Project PDF;
• your Project Video link;
• school/education-setting information;
• parent/legal guardian contact information if you are under 18.

You cannot make substantive changes to your project after submission.

You may contact EXPLR to correct personal or contact information such as a misspelled name, email address or phone number.

EXPLR may also permit a limited technical correction if a file is corrupted or a video link does not work.

A technical correction cannot be used to improve or rewrite the project after the deadline.

Projects can involve research, design, engineering, experimentation, invention, data, software, prototypes, systems, making or another meaningful STEM approach.

The important part is that the work represents your thinking and contribution.

No.

Some projects use the scientific method. Others use engineering design, iterative prototyping, computational thinking, research, design or another appropriate process.

Use the approach that makes sense for your project.

Yes.

School, class, research-program, science-fair, internship or extracurricular projects may be submitted as long as the project meets the Competition requirements and represents your own work.

Yes.

You may submit work that has appeared in another program or competition as long as you have the right to submit it and it meets the National STEM Festival Rules.

Choose the one Theme that best represents the main purpose of your project.

It's completely normal for STEM projects to cross disciplines.

EXPLR may reclassify a project if another Theme is clearly a better fit.

Not necessarily.

A strong submission should show meaningful work, evidence, development or testing.

Projects can still be evolving, but judges need enough information to understand what you did, what you learned and where the project currently stands.

An idea by itself is unlikely to be competitive.

Judges are looking for evidence that you investigated, designed, tested, built, analyzed, created or meaningfully developed the idea.

Think carefully before publicly disclosing information you believe may be patentable or commercially sensitive.

Consider speaking with a parent, mentor or qualified intellectual-property professional before submitting.

Entering the Competition does not itself protect an invention.

Yes.

The Project PDF is a required part of the application.

Your PDF must:

• be a PDF file;
• be no more than 3 pages;
• be no more than 5MB;
• use at least 12-point font for substantive text.

Use it to help judges understand the evidence behind your project.

You might include:

• photographs of the project;
• prototype images;
• diagrams;
• charts;
• data;
• sketches;
• results;
• models;
• process images.

Prioritize useful evidence over decoration.

No.

Phase 1 is blind, so your PDF must not include your face or another identifiable portrait of you.

No.

Do not include:

• your name;
• school name;
• teacher or mentor name;
• contact information;
• social-media usernames.

Absolutely.

Photos of your prototype, experiment, device, model or other project work are encouraged when useful.

Just keep the Phase 1 submission anonymous.

Yes.

Every applicant submits a Project Video with the original application.

Maximum 2 minutes.

Yes.

You should appear on camera and identify yourself.

No.

The video is not shown to Phase 1 judges.

Phase 1 uses your anonymous written submission and Project PDF.

The video is used later in Phase 2 if you become a Finalist.

Your video should answer:

1. What is your project?
2. What problem, question or opportunity does it address?
3. What did you do, investigate or create?
4. What could we expect to see or experience at the Festival if you are selected to present?

No.

A clear phone video is completely fine.

Judges care about your project, understanding and communication — not expensive cameras, animation or editing.

Yes.

Unlisted videos are fine as long as authorized EXPLR staff and judges can open the link without requesting individual permission.

Yes.

EXPLR must be able to download the submitted video for Competition administration and, where later applicable, authorized Champion media use.

Yes, as long as you provide the password or access code in the application and the video remains accessible throughout judging.

No.

Applying does not make your video public.

Becoming a Finalist also does not automatically make it public.

Broader public use applies only if you later become a National STEM Champion, accept Champion status and the applicable Champion media terms take effect.

Yes.

Teachers, mentors, parents, researchers and experts can teach you skills, answer questions, provide feedback and support your learning.

They cannot do the project or application for you.

Yes.

A parent or guardian can help with logistics, proofreading or understanding instructions.

The project responses still need to represent your own thinking and understanding.

Yes — when used appropriately.

Generative AI does not automatically disqualify your project.

The application asks whether you used generative AI and, if so, how. Examples may include:

• brainstorming;
• research support;
• coding support;
• writing assistance;
• data analysis;
• image generation.

You remain responsible for checking accuracy and making sure the submitted work represents your own contribution.

There is no automatic scoring penalty simply for using AI.

Judges are evaluating your project and your understanding.

Misrepresenting AI-generated or someone else's work as your own may result in disqualification.

Applicants attending a school designated as Title I eligible may receive a 5-point Opportunity Bonus during Phase 1 Finalist selection.

Exactly 5 points.

No.

Title I status and Opportunity Bonus information are hidden from judges.

Judges first give every project a normal Phase 1 Project Score out of 100.

For an eligible Title I applicant, EXPLR then adds 5 points administratively when determining who advances to Finalist status.

No.

The Opportunity Bonus applies only to Phase 1 Finalist advancement.

It does not carry into Phase 2 or the Final Competition Score.

Select Unsure.

EXPLR may verify Title I status using official school, district, NCES or U.S. Department of Education information.

No.

The National STEM Festival does not use household-income information to administer the Title I Opportunity Bonus.

A home-school applicant who does not attend a qualifying Title I school does not receive the Title I Opportunity Bonus.

Phase 1 Project Score:

Yes.

Phase 1 judges do not receive your name, photo, school, contact information, gender, Title I status, Opportunity Bonus information or Project Video.

Up to 8 Finalists from each of the 56 Competition Regions may be selected.

A region is not guaranteed eight Finalists.

May 12, 2027

No.

Your original application is your Competition entry.

Phase 2 uses the Project Video you already submitted.

The Title I Opportunity Bonus is not included in the Final Competition Score.

Yes.

A Finalist must achieve a Final Competition Score of at least 65/100 to be eligible for National STEM Champion selection.

The 2027 U.S. Edition may select:

• up to 56 Regional National STEM Champions; and
• up to 8 additional Special Award National STEM Champions.

No.

One Regional Champion place is initially allocated to each Competition Region, but a Finalist must meet the minimum score and all Competition requirements.

The unfilled Regional Champion place may be reallocated to a qualifying Finalist from another Competition Region.

Yes.

If an unfilled place is reallocated, another Competition Region may ultimately have more than one Regional National STEM Champion.

There can still be no more than 56 Regional National STEM Champions total.

They are based on Final Competition Scores, published tie-breaking rules and continued eligibility.

June 22, 2027

EXPLR may select up to 8 additional Special Award National STEM Champions based on separately published award criteria.

Award names and criteria may vary by year.

October 19–24, 2027 in Washington, DC.

National STEM Champions receive an invitation to participate in the Festival and a Champion package with an approximate retail value of up to $2,500.

The package may include:

• reasonable round-trip transportation;
• Festival hotel accommodation;
• specified Festival meals;
• Festival programming;
• specified Festival activities.

Package length: 5 nights / 6 days.

Yes. National STEM Champion is an in-person role.

If you are selected, you must attend the National STEM Festival in Washington, DC in person and take part in the required Champion program.

A selected student who cannot attend in person may remain a 2027 National STEM Festival Finalist but cannot hold National STEM Champion status.

Yes.

A Champion under 18 must attend with one parent or legal guardian.

Specified reasonable travel and hotel accommodation for that required adult are included in the Champion package.

Not simply because they are an adult.

For a Champion under 18, the required accompanying adult must be a parent or legal guardian.

You do not need a parent or legal guardian to attend.

Where the Champion package includes an accompanying-adult benefit, the applicable Champion travel terms will explain who may use it.

No.

Unused travel or accompanying-person benefits do not have a cash value.

It depends on the judging phase.

Phase 1 is blind and judges receive only the anonymous project information needed to score the submission.

Phase 2 judges may review your Project Video and other relevant project materials.

Read the Application Privacy Notice.

No.

Supporting the Festival does not give a sponsor or partner access to the raw application database.

A qualified sponsor or partner representative may serve as a judge, in which case they receive only the information appropriate to that judging phase and are subject to confidentiality and conflict requirements.

No.

EXPLR does not sell National STEM Festival application personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

EXPLR may publish:

• your name;
• Competition Region;
• project title.

Your Project Video, additional photos, biography and complete application do not automatically become public simply because you are a Finalist.

National STEM Champion is a public-facing role.

Finalists who remain eligible for Champion selection complete a Finalist Information & Champion Media Agreement.

Broader Champion media rights take effect only if you are selected as a Champion and accept Champion status.

Contact EXPLR.

Genuine safeguarding, security or exceptional privacy concerns can be reviewed individually where reasonably possible.

nationalstemfestival@explr-media.com

Confirm that:

• it is a PDF;
• it is no more than 3 pages;
• it is no more than 5MB;
• your internet connection is working.

Test the link in a private/incognito browser window.

Make sure it:

• opens without an individual permission request;
• has the correct password/access code if one is needed;
• remains downloadable by EXPLR.

Contact EXPLR as soon as possible at nationalstemfestival@explr-media.com.

Personal/contact information can be corrected without changing the substantive project entry.

Generally, substantive project materials cannot be changed after submission.

EXPLR may permit a limited replacement when there is a genuine technical problem, such as a corrupted file.

A replacement cannot be used to improve or materially change the project after submission.

Keep the page open and try again.

Check your internet connection and confirm all required fields are complete.

If the system is busy, wait briefly and retry.

If the problem continues, contact nationalstemfestival@explr-media.com.

Do not wait until the final minutes before the deadline to submit.

EXPLR may take reasonable steps to administer the Competition fairly if a technical failure affecting its own application system materially prevents applicants from submitting.

Keep evidence of a timely attempted submission if you experience a serious system problem near the deadline.