National High School Big Data & AI Challenge 2026

2026–2027 NATIONAL PROGRAM

National High School Big Data & AI Challenge

Student Research that Matters

The National High School Big Data & AI Challenge gives high school and CEGEP students the opportunity to investigate real-world environmental challenges using open data, satellite intelligence and AI.

Participating students stand out in their university applications with evidence-based research findings, academic literature review, and data analytics investigative skills.

Choose Your Pathway View Important Dates

Choose the HSBDC pathway
that fits your goals

Choose between a structured Scholar Internship pathway and an Independent Research pathway. Both lead to a research portfolio, scholarly conference experience, award eligibility, and publication of team abstracts in the academic STEM Fellowship Journal as part of conference proceedings.

Program feature

Registration

Team structure

Learning model

Instruction and support

Certification

Best fit

Fee

Scholar Internship Pathway

Individual registration

Students register individually and work in interdisciplinary agile research teams

Four-month blended learning with weekly university academic sessions and rigorous data science and research curriculum

Weekly university academic instruction, Cisco data science training and certification, scholarly mentorship and agile teamwork

Cisco Academy Data Science training and certification; Scholarly communication capstone; Agile teamwork

Students seeking university experience, research certification and mentorship

$980

per participant

Scholar Internship Pathway

Independent Research Pathway

Team registration

Teams of up to five students

Independent team-led research supported by program resources

Recorded workshops on selected topics; open-access datasets and tools; self-paced team workflow

N/A

Student teams prepared to organize and manage an independent research project

$250

per team

Independent Research

Important dates

September 1, 2026

Registration opens

October 18, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET

Registration deadline

October 18, 2026 – January 10, 2027

Program and research period

January 10, 2027 at 11:59 PM ET

Manuscript deadline

January 17, 2027 at 11:59 PM ET

Poster and slide deadline

February 12, 2027

Toronto conference, Hart House, University of Toronto

February 2027

Calgary and Montreal conferences - final dates to be announced

View Program Details & FAQs STEM Fellowship owl mascot teaching with pointer symbolizing guidance and education

United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger

2026–2027 Challenge Theme

Preserving Biodiversity and Advancing Land’s Environmental Resilience Using Open Data, Satellite Intelligence and AI

Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of invasive species outbreaks and wildfires, placing communities, ecosystems, biodiversity and infrastructure at risk. Satellite intelligence, open environmental data and AI provide new ways to monitor ecosystem health, assess risk and support evidence-based decisions.

HSBDC teams analyze environmental and socioeconomic datasets to identify patterns, predict risks and propose data-driven solutions that support climate adaptation, biodiversity conservation and resilient communities.

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