Dates
📅 Registration Opens: June 23, 2026
📅 Project Submission Deadline: July 25, 2026 at 11:59 PM CDT
📅 Judging Period: July 25–29, 2026
📅 Winners Announced: July 30, 2026
Participants may register and work on their projects beginning June 23. All submissions must be uploaded to Devpost before the submission deadline. Projects will be reviewed by judges during the judging period, and winners will be announced on July 20.
Eligibility
👩💻 The Girls in STEM Global Hackathon is open to students worldwide.
• Participants must be middle school, high school, or undergraduate students.
• Teams may consist of 1–4 members.
• Individual submissions are welcome.
• Participants of all genders are welcome to compete and support the mission of empowering girls in STEM.
• No prior hackathon experience is required.
By participating, entrants agree to follow the event’s Code of Conduct and submit original work.
Project and Submission Requirements
📌 Projects must align with the theme:
🌍 Global Challenges, Local Solutions
Submissions must:
• Address a real challenge affecting a local community.
• Demonstrate a STEM-based solution.
• Be original work created by the participants.
• Include a clear explanation of the problem and proposed solution.
• Include a demo video (2–5 minutes).
• Include screenshots, designs, research findings, or prototype images.
Artificial intelligence tools may be used, but participants must clearly explain how AI contributed to the project.
Projects may be software-based, hardware-based, research-based, or a combination of these approaches.
Prizes
🏆 1st Place Overall
🏆 2nd Place Overall
🏆 3rd Place Overall
🏆 Best Overall Project
🏆 Best Social Impact Project
🏆 Best Technology & AI Project
🏆 Best Engineering & Innovation Project
🏆 Best Hardware
🏆 Best Artifical Intelligence
Winners will receive digital certificates, recognition on the Girls in STEM website and social media platforms, and additional prizes as announced by sponsors.
Judging Criteria and Winner Selection
Projects will be evaluated by a panel of judges using the following criteria:
Innovation & Creativity (25%)
How original and creative is the solution?
Impact (25%)
How effectively does the project address a real community challenge?
Technical Execution (25%)
How well was the project designed, developed, or researched?
Feasibility & Scalability (15%)
Could the solution realistically be implemented and expanded?
Presentation & Communication (10%)
How clearly does the team explain their project and its impact?
Projects receiving the highest overall scores across all categories will be selected as winners. Judges’ decisions are final.