The Junior Academy is a project-based learning program where students form international teams and work with STEM experts through an online community platform. Students participate in Innovation Challenges where they collaborate under the guidance of STEM mentors to design solutions to real-world problems. Students and mentors can participate from anywhere in the world.

Challenges are sponsored by industry-leading companies and are preceded by a kick-off week, which provides preparation for the challenges and builds relevant skills in areas such as research methods, design thinking and data analysis. Once a challenge begins, students self-select into teams and gain access to STEM experts, who serve as mentors, guiding teams throughout the challenge process. Additional STEM professionals serve as judges who score each solution and choose a winning team.  

The Junior Academy connects students, experts and industry leaders through the Academy’s virtual collaborative learning platform, Launchpad. Launchpad is where all of our programming takes place and where we host our in-depth discussions, challenges, expert talks and more. This platform was built specifically to support the Junior Academy network — there’s nothing else like it. The platform is accessible to all, providing students with the support they need to pursue their science curiosity. Community leaders are charged with making sure all students receive the individualized support they need to access our platform.  

Hear From Junior Academy Students

Hear students in the Junior Academy talk about how the program works and their firsthand experience innovating creative ideas to solve real world challenges.

Engaging Students of the Junior Academy

Join a Global Network across 100+ countries

Develop vital 21st century skills in critical thinking & problem solving

Solve relevant, real-world challenges through hands-on learning

Gain valuable knowledge & experience in STEM research and development

Become socially responsible citizens & understand changes across contexts and cultures

Push boundaries by exploring atypical approaches to solutions & working collaboratively

The Challenge Process

Recruitment

Acceptance

Onboarding

Students are recruited internationally during either the spring or winter recruitment periods. Students can expect their notifications of acceptance or rejection in either August or January depending on their recruitment cycle. After acceptance to the program, students must create a profile on our Launchpad platform to effectively accept their spot in the Junior Academy.

Resource Library

Challenge Launch

Team Formation

Challenges take place twice a year, in September and in February. They are first introduced by sharing a Resource Library. This is a list of interesting articles and papers connected to the challenge so students can begin their investigation into which challenge they are interested in tackling. Challenge Launch begins the first day of Kick-Off Week all of the available challenges are open and student can begin to create teams and projects. Team Formation is an important step in the Junior Academy. Students create their own teams by either creating their own project or asking to join others!

Mentor Matching

Solution Design &
Challenge Phases

Solution Presentation

Mentors are on the Launchpad platform to aid students in their project. Remember they do not do the project for you- they are just therefor guidance. Mentors are not required nor are they guaranteed. After team formation ends, the challenge phases begin. It is important to pay attention to due dates of each milestone as they are important steps to achieve your solution presentation! Finally at the end of either November or April, depending on which semester you are participating in, you will turn in your solution presentation. Remember, no late work!

Judging

Winner Announcement

Certificates &
Young Memberships

After you turn in your final solution presentation each challenge enters a judging period. This judging period is both internal and external. During this time, internal judges review all of the submitted work and move 10 projects of distinction to external judging. External judges are professionals and experts who judge the projects of distinction and declare a winner and two finalist teams. After the results are gathered, we announce who the winning team of each challenge is during December or May, depending on the semester! At the very end of the year, in the summer, all of the students who fully participated in one of the fall or spring innovation challenges, meaning they turned in all of their milestone work ON TIME, will receive a certificate and a Young Membership to The New York Academy of Sciences.

Junior Academy participants are enthusiastic learners and problem solvers with a passion for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). They have a desire to collaborate with international peers to address the world’s most pressing challenges.

Student Eligibility Requirements

• Age: 13–17 years old.
• Location: Virtual programming takes place online through our Launchpad platform.
• Language: All program content and communication on the platform is in English, and a strong level of English proficiency is required. Students’ English proficiency will be assessed during the application process. Applications must be submitted in English and parental or guardian consent forms must be signed.
• Time Commitment: Three to four hours each week during challenge periods.
• Cost: None. The Junior Academy is completely free for participating students.

Application Process

The Junior Academy applications for students interested in joining the Junior Academy in the Fall of 2026 opened on April 1, 2026 and closed on July 9, 2026.

Please note: Students who are already part of the Junior Academy on Launchpad do NOT need to apply again in order to participate the following year.

Selection Process

To build a community of exceptional young minds, we take the application process very seriously. Each year, we receive thousands of applications from all over the world. Every application undergoes a review to ensure passionate students are offered the opportunity to join the Junior Academy.

Onboarding

Admission decisions for the Fall 2026 recruitment period will be sent out on August 31, 2026. Be sure to check your email!

STEM professionals and enthusiasts are invited to engage with the Junior Academy community as Mentors, supporting the next generation of innovators. Mentors work directly with student teams on The Academy’s learning platform, Launchpad, where students embark on 10-week virtual Innovation Challenges. They provide guidance and encouragement as students progress through each phase of the scientific process–from research and ideation to designing solutions, testing hypotheses, analyzing results, and delivering a final presentation.

Innovation Challenges are offered twice annually and follow an academic school year. Fall Challenges run from mid-September to mid-November and Spring Challenges run from mid-February to mid-April. Mentors may participate in one or both semesters.

In this role, Mentors serve as Dedicated Team Mentors to up to five student teams, guiding them through the Innovation Challenge process and providing thoughtful,  in-depth feedback throughout the experience.

Applications

Mentor applications for the Junior Academy 2026-2027 Academic year were open from April 8, 2026 – July 2, 2026.

Time Commitment

All Mentors accepted to the program should expect to spend approximately 2 hours on orientation and training at the start of their first program term.

During the 10 week Innovation Challenge period, mentors should generally expect to spend 1–2 hours per week answering student questions, providing input on projects, or meeting with teams. The timing of these interactions are flexible, and is based on your schedule. Working and communicating with student teams can be done both synchronously and asynchronously. All communication with our students in the Junior Academy must stay on Launchpad. Mentors are not to communicate with students via phone, email, or social media.

Throughout the semester, we ask mentors to participate in focus groups, check-ins, and surveys.

Application Process and Program Participation

1. New Mentors submit an application by July 2nd, 2026. Returning Mentors will be emailed an interest survey for the upcoming semester by late summer.
   • Application Review and Virtual Interviews will take place in August for the upcoming Fall Challenges.
   • Tentatively Accepted Mentors will be onboarded with our volunteer platform for training and other onboarding paperwork.
2. All Mentors must complete background checks by our third party provider.
3. Mentors are onboarded to the virtual learning platform, Launchpad, and are expected to complete program orientation, program check-ins, surveys and mentoring student teams for the duration of the semester.
4. Mentors are offboarded from the Launchpad after each semester ends.