Western and Central Europe
GENERAL STEM
The Big Bang Competition – A competition that allows students to create projects relating to any STEM subfield. Finalists compete for cash prizes.
CREST Awards – Students can create projects relating to any STEM subfield. Their achievements are recognised with gold, silver or bronze medals.
Walton International STEM Summer Program – Residential 10-day program in math and applied math at the Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. Students will learn alongside other university students and participate in math labs and activities.
RCSU Science Challenge – This is a science communication competition which requires participants to demonstrate their skills in scientific reasoning and debate.
Maths Beyond Limits – A math program held in Milowka, Poland for gifted high schoolers around Europe from September 13-25. A virtual camp is also available.
SCIENCE
PHYSICS/ASTRONOMY
The WEIZMANN UK Safe Cracking Physics Tournament – This competition is for year 12 students and requires participants to create a safe with locking mechanisms based on the principles of physics. The winning team will receive grants to participate in the international tournament at the Weizmann Institute of Science.
International Science Engagement Challenge (ISEC) – Held in the Czech Republic over two weeks in the summer. Participants are paired with a research mentor, complete a research project and get to participate in fun activities. Applications are due in early May and have a fee of 625 Euro. International students are encouraged to apply.
International Astronomy Youth Camp (IAYC) – A three-week long summer camp open to applications from 16-24 years old. Takes place in different countries every year– past host countries included Austria, Germany and Hungary. Application fee of 870 Euro.
National Schools Observatory (NSO) – By registering on the NSO website, students can start taking images with the robotic Liverpool Telescope for free. Their site also hosts revision material, interactive quizzes and an online textbook to do with space.
Faulkes Telescope Project – The Faulkes Telescope project provides free access to a global network of telescopes to UK schoolteachers and educators for their classes. Register on their site for access.
AstroCamp – Held in Portugal over two weeks in August for 10th, 11th, and 12th graders. Activities include observing sessions, completion of a computational project, recreational activities, and talks. Applications are open during April. The camp is free of cost to selected Portuguese students and ~400 Euro to international students.
Space School UK – A week-long summer camp at the University of Leicester in July/August for 13- to 18-year-olds. Includes activities like scuba diving, rocketry, astronomical observing and a visit to the National Space Centre. Fees are between 450 and 550 Euro depending upon age.
European Space Camp – A week-long summer camp for 17 to 20-year-olds interested in space and science. Participants get to learn about space, build and launch rockets and listen to talks from Europe’s top scientists. Open to international applicants. Offers a variety of scholarships to students from European member states.
Annual Conference on Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems (ADASS) – The conference takes place annually in Granada, Spain.
BIOLOGY
Biology Challenge – This consists of of 2 online tests that’ll test students knowledge about both biology topics studied in school and extra knowledge (books, magazines, articles etc). It is open to 13-15 year old pupils in Year 9/Year 10 in England and Wales, Year 10/Year 11 in Northern Ireland and S2/S3 in Scotland.
Intermediate Biology Olympiad – This is a one hour multiple choice test which covers topics learnt in AS Level Biology. It is open to Y12 students in England and Wales, Y13 in Northern Ireland and S5 in Scotland.
British Biology Olympiad – This competition consists of 2 45-minute multiple choice papers. The winning team will represent the UK at the International Biology Olympiad.
STEM Ambassadors supporting community groups: engage with young people, either face-to-face or virtually, free of charge! STEM Ambassadors volunteer their time to inspire teenagers to progress further in STEM subjects.
NEUROSCIENCE
British Brain Bee – This is a neuroscience competition for high-schoolers. The winner gets an all paid trip to the International Brain Bee. The 2nd and 32d place winners get a summer internship in a lab.
MATHEMATICS
Residential Summer Course in Mathematics – Residential 2 or 4 week camp at Cambridge that teaches introductory university mathematics including topics such as game theory, linear algebra, and set theory.
CHEMISTRY
The “Schülerkolleg” in Freiberg: Once a year (This year: 13. – 14. 09. 2021) students in the 11th and 12th grades of high school can spend a few days experimenting at the University of Freiberg! You will get to know the different work areas and working methods of the different chemical disciplines as you will spend the days at different institutes and you will also visit the mine in Freiberg as well as the museum “terra mineralia”. A friend of mine has participated this program last year and she loved it! Having the chance to experiment with other students your age with similar interests is something that you shouldn’t miss.
The DLR School Lab in Dresden: In this Lab everybody, if normally interested in Chemistry or not, will have fun! Normally you go there with your whole class and experiment on current topics like solar energy for one day, but I am sure you can join a group if you write the organizers an email (all of them are very nice 😉 ) I have been there with my class mates at least 3 times and it was fun every time!