1. Who can participate
- Students aged 6 and over from any country, from primary school to university.
- Projects are entered in one of four divisions by age: Junior (ages 6–10, usually primary school), Intermediate (ages 11–14, usually middle school), Senior (ages 15–19, usually high school including the final year) and University (associate, bachelor and master students). The age on 1 January of the competition year counts (for WISE 2027: 1 January 2027). In a team, the oldest student's age decides the division. School systems differ between countries, so the school type is only a guide – the age decides.
- Every category is open to every division. Each division is judged separately within each category, so students compete only with their own age group – Junior projects never compete with Senior projects.
- University participants upload a current student certificate.
2. Accounts and teams
- A project is entered by an account holder: a teacher, a parent or guardian, a school student or a university student.
- Students under 16 can open their own account with their own e-mail address. The account is activated only after a parent or teacher approves it by e-mail.
- A team has 1 to 3 students and up to 2 advisors. An advisor is optional.
- A student may take part in up to 3 projects per season. Teams may enter different categories.
- For every student under 18, a parent or guardian must agree to participation. Award winners may be asked for a signed consent form.
3. What to submit
We keep it simple. Two things are enough:
- Abstract (required): a short description of up to 250 words, written in the online form.
- A short report or a video (one of them is required):
- Report: PDF in any format. 2–5 pages is enough (maximum 10 pages, 15 MB). No template is needed — just explain the problem, what you did, what you found and what it means.
- Video: an unlisted YouTube link or a Google Drive link that anyone with the link can view, up to 5 minutes. Ideal for robotics, design and art projects.
- Optional: a presentation (PDF or PPTX, max. 25 MB) and up to 2 extra links, for example GitHub or a project website.
- If people or animals are involved, keep the consent forms. Uploading them is optional; the organizers may ask for them.
4. Language
All project titles, abstracts, reports, presentations and videos are submitted in English. Junior participants may add subtitles or a second language in their video. The website is available in English, German, Russian, Spanish and Turkish.
5. Originality and use of AI
- Projects must be the participants' own work. Plagiarism leads to disqualification.
- Sources must be cited in the report (APA style recommended).
- AI tools may be used. The report must contain a short AI usage statement explaining which tools were used and for what. A report written mainly by AI loses points; hiding AI use can lead to disqualification.
- Projects that took part in other competitions (for example national science fairs) may enter WISE. At least one original team member must be in the WISE team.
6. Safety and ethics
- No experiments that endanger people, harm animals or use dangerous substances without professional supervision.
- Surveys and experiments with people require informed consent; for minors, consent from parents.
- Content that is political propaganda, offensive or discriminatory is not accepted.
- To keep judging anonymous, do not write student names or school names inside the report, presentation or video.
7. Deadlines
Projects can be edited until they are submitted. After the submission deadline, the system closes automatically and no files can be added. All times are Central European Time (CET, UTC+1).
8. Fees
Participation in WISE 2027 is free of charge.
9. Privacy and publication
Project files are visible only to the team, the assigned judges and the organizers. Only the titles of award-winning projects are published – with the team's permission, together with category, age group and country. Student and school names are never published. See the Privacy Policy for details.
10. Acceptance of the rules
By submitting a project, the account holder confirms that the team has read and accepted these rules. The Organizing Committee may disqualify projects that break them. Decisions of the jury are final.
Last updated: 31 October 2026