GENIUS Coding challenges students to use programming, software development, and computational thinking to build software solutions for environmental problems. Projects can be web, desktop, or mobile apps, simulations, games, data visualization tools, robotic software, educational software, or any other software that addresses the annual theme; the 2027 application topic is Extreme Heat & Wildfires. Students may use any programming language, and AI-assisted development is allowed when explained in the video and presentation.
Students work alone or in teams of up to two. The application project (GitHub repository plus a project video) is used to select finalists. At the finals, held as part of GENIUS Olympiad hosted by St. John Fisher University in Rochester, New York, teams take part in a 24-hour in-person Final Hackathon on a newly announced topic. All project-specific work must be created during the hackathon, and teams may not communicate with anyone outside their team. Final awards are based on the hackathon project and a short presentation to a panel of judges.
The official 2027 tentative schedule, application rules and Finalist Guide, linked from the official guides page, were checked November 4, 2026. Finals are June 7–12, 2027 at St. John Fisher University in Rochester. The homepage states applications open December 2026; the tentative schedule adds December 15 without an explicit year beside that opening. An exact opening date remains unconfirmed.
Applications and the USD75 project fee are due March 1, 2027. The homepage gives 9 a.m. US EST, whereas the tentative schedule gives 11:59 p.m. EST; the cutoff time remains inconsistent. For eligible US/EU fair projects, the homepage gives April 16 and the schedule April 15, so that extension date is unresolved. Finalist announcements are scheduled for March 25. Participant registration and full participation payment are due May 5, 2027; May 10 on the homepage concerns trip/travel registration, not participant registration. Optional-trip and travel-information deadlines also differ between the homepage and guide; those services need separate confirmation.
The published participation charge is USD695 per student/chaperone, or USD495 when arranging and paying for separate hotel accommodation. Travel and affiliate charges can be additional. The Finalist Guide says GENIUS does not provide attendance scholarships or fee waivers. The website’s RIT award scholarships concern later university study, depend on admission and published eligibility, and do not pay for attending GENIUS. Future-cycle dates are not verified.