Sentinus Young Innovators 2026

What is the Young Scientist of the Year Award?

We are currently seeking applications from students who wish to enter our Young Scientist of the Year competition

Entries for the Young Scientist category can be from Individuals or Teams of up to 3 people.

There a two ways of taking part in the Sentinus Young Scientist

Option 1 – Choose a Sentinus Challenge

Sentinus have identified three challenges that are very relevant to life in 2026

• Net Zero Neighbourhoods: Smart solutions for local climate action
• Mind Matters: Science and innovation for youth mental health
• Water: Methods to improve water quality/storage

Option 2 – Submit a project based on your own idea.

Students can submit a project of their own, either one they have worked on previously or a new project.  Students will be asked to prepare an online submission in the form of a poster.

Please read our full Young Innovators 2026 Guidelines (View Guidelines) before applying.

Students will be asked to prepare an online submission in the form of a poster, to be submitted by 29th September 2026.  This poster will be used to select finalists.

The Young Scientist of the Year will be chosen by a panel of industry experts at our final event on Thursday 26th November at Ulster University, Belfast.

What is the Young Engineer of the Year Award?

We are currently seeking applications from students who wish to enter our Young Scientist of the year competition

Entries for the Young Engineer category can be from Individuals or Teams of up to 3 people.

There a two ways of taking part in the Sentinus Young Scientist of the Year

Option 1 – Choose a Sentinus Challenge

Sentinus have identified three challenges that are very relevant to life in 2026

• Retrofit Revolution: Engineering greener buildings
• Flood Futures: Engineering for extreme weather
• Smart Streets: Engineering safer, greener travel

Option 2 – Submit a project based on your own idea

Students can submit a project of their own, either one they have worked on previously or a new project.

Students will be asked to prepare an online submission in the form of a poster, to be submitted by 30th September 2026.  This poster will be used to select finalists

Please read our full Young Innovators 2026 Guidelines (View Guidelines) before applying.

The Young Engineer  of the Year will be chosen by a panel of industry experts.

We are seeking the very best young mathematicians to attend our final event in Belfast on 26th November 2026.

Applicants will be assessed on their application and a reference from their subject teacher.

There will be an assessment in late September 2026, to select the finalists.

At the final event,  finalists will be set a 90 minutes live maths challenge.

Overall winner will be crowned Sentinus Young Mathematician of the Year.

Please read our full Young Innovators 2026 Guidelines (View Guidelines) before applying.

We are seeking the very best young coders to attend our final event in Belfast on 26th November 2026.  Applicants will be assessed on their application and a reference from their subject teacher.

There will be an assessment in late September 2026, to select the finalists.

The finalists will be invited to our final event where they will be given a 90 minute coding challenge which will be assessed by an expert panel.

The winner will be crowned the Young Coder of the Year.

Coding challenges will use Python

Please read our full Young Innovators 2026 Guidelines (View Guidelines) before applying.