The Paradigm Challenge is a free global competition inviting students ages 4–18 to develop creative, real-world solutions across five challenge areas: home fire safety, waste reduction, personal health, food security, and biodiversity. Entries can take any format — videos, posters, inventions, apps, websites, or community events.
A First Place, Second Place, and Third Place team is selected within each of three age divisions (4–8, 9–13, and 14–18), winning $10,000, $2,000, and $1,000 respectively. One First Place team is additionally named the overall Grand Prize winner and receives $100,000 in place of its $10,000 prize. At least 100 teams are named Finalists each cycle; the remaining finalist teams beyond the nine placing teams each receive a $200 cash prize. First Place team members from each age division, along with a parent or guardian, receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the Prize Ceremony in Los Angeles.
Mentor feedback is available throughout the challenge. The submission deadline for the current cycle is May 1, 2027. Visit projectparadigm.org to submit and explore challenge resources.