Four Host Cities
Singapore — Asia–Pacific
-
Who it serves
Students across Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Working language: English. Mandarin and Malay are welcome in mentor sessions.
-
Where the days happen
Showcases sit in the one-north research precinct — a mixed campus of labs, start-up space and teaching rooms that already know how to run a public science day. Exact rooms are confirmed in the welcome pack after registration.
-
Competition day
Day one is closed judging: fifteen-minute slots (seven minutes to present and demonstrate, eight minutes of questions), plus a poster walk. Day two is a public demonstration. Families and teachers are invited. Hardware teams get a bench with power; software teams get a table and a display.
-
Regional flavour
Strong work often appears in biotechnology, tropical climate adaptation, marine questions and applied AI. Mentors include researchers and engineers from the regional tech and university ecosystem.
Hong Kong — Greater China
-
Who it serves
Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan, Macau and Korea. Working languages: English and Mandarin; submissions may be in either. Oral defence may be in either, with a one-page English abstract required.
-
Where the days happen
Events use university-adjacent teaching halls and makerspaces in the Pearl River Delta — rooms with benches, 3D printers and enough floor load for robots. The programme team books space; we do not list a university as official host on this page.
-
Competition day
Day one: judging slots and a dedicated maker hour so hardware can be shown working, not as slides. Day two: public exhibition and a short conversation series with practising engineers. Power, water for wet demos (by prior request) and a quiet room for students who need it.
-
Regional flavour
Hardware, urban systems, public health and machine learning. The manufacturing density of the Greater Bay Area is useful if your prototype needs parts quickly.
London — Europe, Middle East & Africa
-
Who it serves
The United Kingdom, continental Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Working language: English. Primary materials may be in another language if a translation is provided.
-
Where the days happen
Central London teaching and research rooms — lecture theatres for the oral defence, foyer space for posters, and a side room for demos that need a bench. Dates: 5–6 June 2027.
-
Competition day
A two-day mix of presentations and a poster-and-demo session open to the public. A short public lecture series runs alongside, given by guest researchers on the year’s theme. Students stay with their poster for a scheduled hour so visitors can ask questions without interrupting judging.
-
Regional flavour
Fundamental science, social-policy research, and work that crosses humanities and STEM. Judging panels include researchers from a dense network of UK institutions.
New York — Americas
-
Who it serves
North, Central and South America. Working language: English. Spanish and Portuguese are welcome in mentor sessions. A Spanish abstract may be attached; the oral defence is in English unless a bilingual judge is assigned.
-
Where the days happen
Teaching and exhibition rooms in Manhattan and Brooklyn — downtown space that can hold a public evening without feeling like a school gym. Dates: 12–13 June 2027. The 2026 Global Final is also in New York, 10–12 July 2027.
-
Competition day
Closed judging on day one; public exhibition on day two; an evening reception for finalists, mentors and families. Industry guests attend the public day. Demos that need radio spectrum or outdoor flight must be declared two weeks ahead.
-
Regional flavour
Computer science, AI, urban systems, public health and social-impact technology.
What to pack, and what not to expect
Pack the artefact, a spare cable, a printed poster or a PDF on two USB drives, the contribution statement, and a way to run the demo with the network off. Do not pack a speech that lasts twelve minutes. The slot is fifteen minutes including questions. If you need power, water, a dark corner, or radio silence for a sensor, you asked on the final form; the hub team will say yes or no in writing. Do not arrive with a drone and a hope.
Accessibility: we provide a quiet room, step-free access wherever the building allows, and a first-aider. Tell the hub team about interpreters, large-print posters, or a need to sit during the defence. We will not invent a university official-host name to make a building sound grander than it is. The rooms are teaching and exhibition rooms in each city. That is enough for a serious day.
Families attend the public day. They do not sit in the judging slot unless the student is under sixteen and has asked for a silent observer. Observers do not speak, prompt, or hold the prototype. Mentors may watch from the back of the public day; they are not in the closed session. Photographs follow the consent box. Junior Division defences are not live-streamed without extra consent.
Travel grants for the showcase are need-based and modest. They are not prizes. Apply through the hub inbox after registration, not on social media. Cross-hub teams should budget for four people to the same city; the grant form asks about that explicitly.
The hour after you present
You will want to leave. Stay for the public hour if you can. Families and teachers walk the posters then, and a question from someone who is not a judge is often the one that shows you what the work actually says. Eat. Drink water. Do not disassemble the prototype until the hub team says the floor is closed; a judge who was in another room may still come by. If you need the quiet room, use it. If a journalist asks for a quote, you may say no. If you are under eighteen, a guardian should be in earshot of that conversation.
Results are not announced in the hallway. Regional awards are announced at the end of the public day or by mail within a week, depending on the hub. Do not crowd the judges at the door. They still have citations to write, and those sentences are what the registry will show when someone verifies a certificate in October.