High school research programs

A free year-long conservation program: explore one big conservation question through expert videos and discussion online, monthly Saturday field trips and hands-on service-learning at real conservation sites, while meeting people who work in conservation careers. Ends with a certificate of completion.

Phase 1 (Activation) of the 2026-27 Conrad Challenge runs August 27 to October 30, 2026; Phase 2 (Innovation) closes January 8, 2027, with the Innovation Summit April 21-24, 2027. Student teams pitch a commercially viable solution to a real-world problem.

An online research incubator where you pick a problem that matters, get matched with a mentor and produce a real piece of work over the cohort, in anything from policy and economics to computer science and biology. It runs in three tiers: Research Foundations gives a certificate and community access, Research Fellows adds mentorship and project grants, and Research Scholars adds custom mentorship and a $10,000 scholarship. Applications for the next cohort open in November 2026, with a priority deadline of December 15, 2026 and a final deadline of January 4, 2027. Widely circulated figures about a $500 acceptance award and $30,000 in seed funding are not on the Non-Trivial site as of August 2026, so treat the tiers above as the published offer.

The world's largest environmental sustainability competition for teenagers: identify a real environmental problem and design a solution, submitted as an Earth Prize Blueprint that ends in a video pitch. Register by January 10, 2027 and submit by January 31, 2027.

Canada's largest regional science fair. Schools register October 1 to December 4 and independent entrants from December 10; every project must be registered with its ethics forms by February 4. Winning here is the route to the Canada-Wide Science Fair for Calgary students.

An international high school project fair with nine categories: science, art, short film, music, robotics, entrepreneurship, speech, coding and artificial intelligence. Students submit a project online; finalists are announced March 25 and present in person at the finals in Rochester, New York.

A seven-week summer at UC Santa Barbara where you are paired with a graduate student, postdoc or professor and carry out your own research project, with lectures on research methods along the way. International students are welcome. Applications for 2027 open December 15, 2026 and close March 8, 2027, with decisions on a rolling basis. It is expensive: in 2026, US$5,675 to commute or US$13,274 living on campus.

Highest level of chemistry competition for Canadian youth. You enter through the Canadian Chemistry Contest in April, which the Chemical Institute of Canada runs and uses to select for the Olympiad; national-team candidates then work through online problem sets, a take-home exam and a national camp. Preparation goes far beyond the high school curriculum, into organic, inorganic and physical chemistry. Top students represent Canada at the International Chemistry Olympiad.

The University of Waterloo's senior chemistry contest, the Grade 12 counterpart to the Avogadro exam. Written online at school; teachers register students by April 23, 2027 for the May 6, 2027 exam.

The University of Waterloo's Grade 11 chemistry contest, written online at school with a teacher supervising. Teachers register students by April 30, 2027 for the May 13, 2027 exam.

Formerly the Ocean Awareness Contest: respond to the year's environmental theme with art, film, poetry, creative writing, music, dance or interactive work. The 2027 theme is "Nature of Truth: Environmentalism in an Age of Disinformation".

Free conservation research and leadership program connecting youth 15–18 with nature through hands-on environmental research and conservation projects. Active programming available in Edmonton and Calgary areas.

Your class plants two sets of tomato seeds, one flown to the International Space Station, and compares germination. Free, teacher-ordered, and a real dataset.

Ten weeks of one-to-one research with a PhD mentor, ending in a paper, podcast or prototype. Tuition-based, with need-based financial aid.

Challenges like Energy Revealed, Eco 360 and Re-Energy prompt students to research local energy consumption or climate policy, then design and implement a data-backed emissions reduction strategy for their school or municipality.

An outdoor club program in wilderness skills, forestry, ecology and leadership, with regular meetings, camps, hikes, canoe trips and skiing. The Adventurers and Challengers level includes a conference weekend and competitions that test outdoor knowledge and teamwork. Find a club near you on the association's site.

A free province-wide youth group on environment, energy and climate: meet online every two weeks, lead your own AYLEE Action Project in your community, and present at environmental and education events, with chances to work on advocacy campaigns, white papers and youth summits.

A peer-reviewed science journal run by graduate students that publishes original research by middle and high school students. Every manuscript needs a student author and an adult senior author, and editors and reviewers give detailed feedback that guides the paper through revision to publication. Submissions are accepted year-round.

A paid online research mentorship where each student works one-on-one with a PhD mentor to learn about a field and produce an independent research paper. Cohorts start several times a year with separate deadlines, and finishing earns credit from UC San Diego Extended Studies. It has given over US$1.8 million in financial aid to low-income students.

A Canadian peer-reviewed, open-access journal for research by high school and university students. Papers go through double-blind review by subject experts before publication. Original research, reviews and shorter viewpoint pieces are accepted any time. Publishing costs $400 CAD once a paper is accepted, with discounts or waivers for some competition winners.

Student applications open in early March and close in early April for the July-August placement. Paid summer research at the U of A for students underrepresented in STEM, ending with a celebration event in August.

Applications are accepted through the DiscoverE form, with separate intern streams in Edmonton and Ottawa. ELITE is a paid summer program for Black youth in innovation, technology and entrepreneurship.

A 10-week program where teams of high school students, led by an undergraduate mentor, run their own research project on open-source data in areas like bioinformatics, public health and economics, using the R programming language. Teams present at a regional symposium, the best go on to a national one, and top manuscripts can be published after peer review. Applications for the 2026-27 program open this fall. There is a CA$80 program fee.

Applications for the 2027 program reopen in fall 2026. A one-week program where Indigenous high school students conduct research alongside university professors and graduate students at the U of A.

CWSF 2027 runs May 29 – June 5 in Hamilton. There is no direct application: Alberta students qualify by winning at their regional science fair, then present original research against roughly 400 finalists from across Canada.

Team registration for the 2026 season is closed. iGEM's High School Competition is entered as a school team under a teacher acting as PI, not by individual students; teams design a synthetic biology project across the season for the international jamboree.

This challenge is not currently running. STEM Fellowship lists no active Big Data & AI Challenge cycle. Teams previously produced a peer-reviewed manuscript from open-data and AI research, with a finale in Calgary.

National innovation challenge where youth teams design and prototype STEM solutions to real-world problems. Teams receive access to industry mentors, workshops, and MindFuel's Connect2Innovate platform. 13+ years running with 5,000+ alumni.

A hands-on research placement for high school students in a university lab. You are mentored one-on-one by a graduate student, help with their experiments, shadow the lab team, and attend lab meetings and seminars. In Alberta the host is the University of Calgary; UBC, Queen's, Guelph, York, TMU and two U of T campuses also host. Each university has its own application form on the REO page, and dates are set per host.

A paid Government of Alberta summer job for 16-18 year olds: seven weeks of forestry, wildfire and conservation work. Intake opens over the winter.

Online academic program where students work directly with university tutors to research and draft a university-level paper. Research tracks available in medicine, computer science, engineering, and more. Builds academic writing and independent research skills.

Global science and math research competition. Students research a complex concept in life sciences, physics, or mathematics and translate that research into an engaging explanatory video (max 2 min for the 2026 competition). Grand prize includes a $250,000 scholarship.

Fully funded scholarships for high school students to join scientific expeditions to the Arctic or Antarctic. Students conduct hands-on environmental and climate field research alongside polar scientists, Indigenous knowledge holders, and global youth peers.

The world's largest pre-college science competition. No direct application: you qualify through an affiliated regional fair. Travel funded if selected.

Applications open April 1 and close in early July, with decisions by August 31. A free online research program from the New York Academy of Sciences where students team up on industry-set challenges with a mentor.

Rigorous virtual research institute for high school students. Accepted students work one-on-one with university professors across disciplines, from neuroscience to computer science, to produce a peer-reviewed research paper over 8 weeks.

Environmental research and proposal competition. Students research a local watershed issue, write a detailed solution proposal, and compete for funding to implement their project in their community. Top Alberta entries advance to regional and national judging.

Applications for the 2026-27 cohort are open now. TKS is a 10-month after-school program where students go deep on AI, biotech and robotics and build projects with companies; alumni have reached research labs and startups before 19.

Open only where your school or district has joined SSEP as a community. Those teams design flight experiments from September 1 to November 3, 2026, with community submissions to NCESSE by November 12 for Mission 22 to the International Space Station.

Students research global food security, agricultural technology, and sustainability, then pitch solutions to real agricultural problems with input from industry mentors.

Two weeks of university engineering at U of T's St. George campus for Grades 10-12. A paid academy; applications open early March, early-bird round first.

Registration opens in the fall, with regional fairs held between February and April. Winning at this regional fair is the only route to the Canada-Wide Science Fair for students in southeastern Alberta.

Open to Albertans interested in data science and the environment. Students analyze massive open-source data sets relating to marine biology, ocean chemistry, and climate from ONC's global sensor network. Virtual participation accessible from anywhere in Canada.

The qualifying fair for Edmonton students heading to the Canada-Wide Science Fair. The 2026 edition ran March 14 to 15 with registration open January 9 to February 28; the council had not posted 2027 dates when this was checked, so expect the same late-winter shape.

One fair day at Red Deer Polytechnic on March 20, 2027, with setup the evening before. A $10 entry fee applies per project, payable on or after the fair, and up to six of the top senior projects advance to the Canada-Wide Science Fair. Registration had not reopened when this was checked.

Two events in one weekend: the Lethbridge Regional Science Fair and the Science Olympics, a same-day design and build competition. Top projects in grades 7 to 12 are invited to the Canada-Wide Science Fair. The 2026 edition ran April 10 to 11; SATC had not posted 2027 dates when this was checked.

Fort McMurray's qualifying fair, judged on a Friday with public viewing and awards the Saturday after. Sponsors cover the cost so entry is free to students, and finalists from the junior, intermediate and senior pools advance to the Canada-Wide Science Fair. The 2026 judging ran March 27.

The qualifying fair for northwest Alberta, and the route to the Canada-Wide Science Fair for students around Peace River, Slave Lake and Valleyview. The 42nd fair ran March 25, 2026 with registration closing March 10, and five finalists went on to nationals in Edmonton. Organisers have said they expect a 2027 fair but had not posted its dates when this was checked.

A three-day environmental science competition. Teams of five work through field stations and written tests in aquatic ecology, forestry, soils and land use, wildlife and a current issue, then give an oral presentation. The winning team represents Alberta at the international NCF-Envirothon.

A residential research summer in astrophysics (tracking a near-Earth asteroid), biochemistry, bacterial genomics or cell biology, with about 700 students a year and no grades or tests. Admission is need-blind. Applications for 2027 open around the end of December 2026; the 2026 international deadline was January 29, earlier than the US one.

Youth Science Canada's online regional fair for students with no regional fair near them, which covers much of rural Alberta outside the seven regional fairs. Present a science or engineering project virtually, the same way regional fairs lead toward the Canada-Wide Science Fair.

Work on a conservation action project with a mentor, do field studies with professionals and present your work at a showcase. The 2026 cohort's applications opened April 1, with a bootcamp August 22–23 and a showcase December 5; expect the next intake to open in spring 2027.

A paid summer on Western University's severe storms team. The hail internship is based in Olds, Alberta and chases hailstorms to collect data; flights and housing in Olds are covered. High school interns get the same $10,000 as university interns. The 2026 round opened December 1, 2025 and closed January 26, 2026, with a required virtual info session in January.

A teacher and a group of students design their own experiment and run it on a beamline at Canada's synchrotron in Saskatoon, then present what they found. Students lead the project with mentors from the Light Source. The teacher applies, not the student, so show this to a science teacher. The spring 2026 call closed April 1, and the next call opens in October 2026.

Six weeks of hands-on research at the University of Lethbridge for Indigenous students after Grade 11, in areas from Indigenous Studies and art to genetics, neuroscience and bioengineering, ending in a poster presentation. It runs alongside the HYRS program on campus. Apply with a short essay and a reference from a teacher or community member. The 2024 program ran July 5 to August 16; newer dates are not posted yet.

A free week of field ornithology at an Alberta bird observatory: bird banding, identification, aging and sexing birds, migration monitoring and MAPS survey work, plus bats and butterflies. Food, field trips and instruction are covered; you get yourself to the station and bring a tent and sleeping bag (tents can be borrowed). In 2026 the workshop ran August 8 to 14 and applications closed April 30.

A free online summer research program where high school students work on a real project with a university mentor, in neuroscience, biology, computer science, electrical engineering or chemistry. It uses open data and published papers, so no lab is needed, and ends with students presenting what they found. Student applications for 2026 are closed; apply again for next summer.