12 Research Competitions for Middle School Students
- Stephen Turban
- Apr 15
- 6 min read
Students looking to enhance their knowledge while flexing their competitive muscles can consider participating in a research competition. These competitions are designed to help you investigate a question or topic in a field of your choice. By designing solutions, writing research essays, or delivering presentations, you present the outcome and findings of your research. As a result, you build practical skills that can be applied to diverse subjects.
Winners often receive awards, prizes, and recognition. Furthermore, participating and winning in research competitions helps your profile stand out during college admissions. Here are a few research competitions to get you started.
12 Research Competitions for Middle School Students
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: Not applicable
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: 6 winners
Dates: Not specified
Application Deadline: April 26
Eligibility: Students in grades 6–8
Middle schoolers who wish to hone their writing and research skills can opt for the Lumiere Junior Scholars Essay Contest. This contest provides several essay prompts and intriguing questions for you to research. Through this competition, you develop argumentation, critical thinking, and writing skills. All entries are judged by an international panel of distinguished professors and researchers who form the Academic Advisory Committee. Your submission will be judged on intellectual independence and persuasive arguments, so you are expected to challenge your own thinking. Winners receive a range of scholarship awards.
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: Not applicable
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: 10 finalists
Dates: Not specified
Application Deadline: April 30
Eligibility: Students in grades 5–8
This challenge invites students to innovate and create a solution-oriented project. You can pick an entry topic on an issue that resonates with you. Thereafter, you create a 1 – 2-minute video that meets the requirements of the challenge checklist. The video must address an everyday problem that directly affects you or your community and provide a creative solution for it. Your entry is judged based on the research, innovative thinking, application of STEM principles to a real-world issue, and communication and persuasion. The top 10 finalists receive the opportunity to develop a prototype of their solution under the mentorship of a 3M scientist in the summer. You then present your work and demonstrate your knowledge at the final event.
Location: Varies by location and category
Cost/Stipend: Not applicable
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Not specified
Dates: Not specified
Application Deadline: June 10
Eligibility: Students in grades 6–8
The JIC is a STEM research competition for middle schoolers. To be eligible for the JIC, you must compete at a Society-affiliated science fair. The top 10% competitors are then nominated to participate in this competition. You submit an entry that demonstrates your knowledge of science or engineering depending on your project. The finals week is followed by a science and engineering showcase where you present your project.
Location: Virtual; final round at Space Center Houston, Houston, TX
Cost/Stipend: $499 per attendee for the Innovation Summit
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Several winners
Dates: Not specified
Application Deadline: October 30 (phase 1) | January 8 (phase 2) | April (phase 3)
Eligibility: Students aged 13–18
The Conrad Challenge is an innovation competition where students develop solutions for real-world challenges. In the Activation Phase, you form your team, come up with ideas, and start innovating by delving into the details. In the Innovation Phase, you design and create your plan before sharing it. Your solution must be detail-oriented and backed by research. Finally, if you are selected as a finalist, you present your innovation and pitch your idea to a panel of judges at the culminating expo. The competition concludes with the awards ceremony.
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: Not applicable
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: 3 winners from each category
Dates: Not specified
Application Deadline: June 1
Eligibility: Middle and high school students in teams of 2–8
Through this competition, you learn about biomimicry methods and concepts. Prior knowledge of the subject is not required as you receive resources and online training opportunities. The solution must be a bio-inspired idea that addresses a social and/or environmental issue related to a chosen Sustainable Development Goal. Thus, the competition involves research, innovation, and creative thinking. Submissions are judged by a panel of biomimicry practitioners, engineers, educators, and scientists.
Location: Virtual; national competition in Washington, D.C.
Cost/Stipend: $25 registration fee
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: 3 winners
Dates: Not specified
Application Deadline: October (tentative)
Eligibility: Middle school students
Future City is an engineering competition for middle schoolers. Here, you learn to apply STEM concepts to practical challenges. To compete, you design a futuristic city built on innovative ideas that address various urban challenges and sustainability issues. The submission must include a City Essay, City Model, and Project Plan. You also present your project and answer questions posed by the judges. You combine the engineering design process with project management concepts, thereby cultivating research and collaboration as well as problem-solving skills.
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: Not applicable
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Several winners
Dates: Not specified
Application Deadline: February 3
Eligibility: K–12 students working in groups of 2–4
ExploraVision is a national STEM competition for students. Working in small groups, you pick a technology, conduct research, visualize what its future might look like, and describe its development. Your development plan must consider the technology’s advantages and disadvantages as well as the obstacles to its development. Thus, you cultivate skills relevant to research and development by working on a project that brings ideas to reality. The competition aims to foster passion for science, technology, and innovation.
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: Not applicable
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: 5 winners
Dates: Not specified
Application Deadline: To be announced
Eligibility: Students in grades 7–12 attending school in specific counties in Kansas and Missouri
This is a project-based STEM competition for you to partake in. To participate, you develop an exhibit concept for Science City while enhancing your knowledge of science and engineering. Your entry must include a written, graphic, and video component that explains your idea. The graphic component must be in the form of an interactive exhibit and billboard. The winning entry may come alive at Science City. You can expect to build collaboration, critical thinking and research skills.
Location: Virtual; International Conference at Indiana University Bloomington, IN
Cost/Stipend: Registration fee to be announced
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Not specified
Dates: International Conference held in June
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Students in grades 7–9
In this competition, you confront and address contemporary global challenges. You participate according to your grade band and can compete individually or in a team. Progressing through local and regional competitions, you solve global issues at each stage. You receive 2 hours to conduct research and analyze a topic during the competition while using the 6-step process to develop a solution. You apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills to deconstruct imagined scenarios and develop action plans. Regional winners can progress to the international competition.
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: Not applicable
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: 60 winners
Dates: Not specified
Application Deadline: To be announced
Eligibility: Students in grades 6–12
This competition by NASA invites you to explore space and engineering. To participate, you work in teams to design, build, and launch experiments on flights aboard commercial suborbital vehicles. 60 teams receive funds to build the experiment. You also receive technical support and an assigned spot on a NASA-sponsored flight. In the spring, you work on building the experiment and preparing it to be conducted in a flight. Thus, through a hands-on activity, you enhance your knowledge of space science and engineering.
Location: Science Buddies, Mill Valley, CA
Cost/Stipend: Not applicable
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: 1 winner
Dates: Not specified
Application Deadline: To be announced
Eligibility: No age limit
Science Buddies offers an annual challenge with a theme that changes each year. You develop your knowledge of engineering by completing a hands-on project, which will be displayed at a public gallery. Applying your problem-solving skills, you design, build, and test contraptions related to the theme. Thus, the competition requires learning about science and engineering. All entries are entered into the showcase, and the submission with the most votes is awarded the People’s Choice prize.
12. Genes in Space
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: Not applicable
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: 25 winners
Dates: Not specified
Application Deadline: April 10
Eligibility: Students in grades 7–12
This competition blends biology and genetic science with space exploration. You pick a space biology topic that intrigues you, identify an open-ended topic, and develop your hypothesis. After conducting research on the topic, you develop an experiment based on the Genes in Space Toolkit available to astronauts. The experiment you design must use one or more tools from the kit. You not only develop your knowledge of space exploration challenges but also become part of a community of scientists and innovators.
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a Ph.D. student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.
Imgae Source - Conrad Challenge logo