Paid Competitions &amp; Hackathons Opportunities

📍 Africa (all countries)PaidHard

Africa's Business Heroes Prize Competition

Jack Ma Foundation

A pan-African entrepreneurship competition recognizing outstanding African founders across sectors, with a substantial cash prize pool and mentorship from global business leaders.

#competition#africa#entrepreneurship

Apply → africabusinessheroes.org

📍 Global (online submission); exhibition varies by yearPaidHard

Loewe Foundation Craft Prize

Loewe Foundation

An international craft prize recognizing exceptional handmade work across disciplines like ceramics, textiles, and woodworking, with exhibition and a substantial cash prize.

#competition#craft#art

Apply → craftprize.loewe.com

Kokuyo Design Award

Kokuyo (Japan)

An annual stationery, furniture, and everyday-tool design competition open globally, judged on originality and practical usability, with a substantial cash grand prize.

#competition#design#product-design

Apply → kokuyo-award.org

Australian National University

ANU Science Case Study Competition

A case-study competition for undergraduate teams analyzing a real scientific or policy problem (such as critical minerals or mental health), judged on rigor and communication.

#competition#case-study#science

Apply → anu.edu.au

📍 Global (online)PaidHard

Reply Cyber Security Challenge

A 24-hour team cybersecurity competition spanning categories like cryptography, web security, and reverse engineering, judged on a capture-the-flag scoring system.

#hackathon#cybersecurity#team

Apply → challenges.reply.com

EY Techathon

Ernst & Young (EY) India

A student hackathon challenging teams to apply emerging technology like AI and automation to real business and community problems across several themed tracks.

📍 IndiaPaidMedium

#hackathon#india#team

Apply → ey.com

Apply → harbinger.rbihub.in

RBI Harbinger: Innovation for Transformation Hackathon

Reserve Bank of India

India's central bank hackathon inviting teams to build fintech solutions across themes like fraud prevention and green finance, with one of the largest cash prize pools in Indian hackathons.

📍 IndiaPaidHard

#hackathon#fintech#india

📍 Global (online application)PaidMedium

MIT Solve Financial Inclusion Challenge

MIT Solve

A challenge for solutions expanding financial access to excluded individuals and small enterprises, with winners receiving funding and MIT Solve's mentorship network.

#competition#fintech#financial-inclusion

Apply → solve.mit.edu

📍 Global (regional heats)PaidMedium

Visa Everywhere Initiative

Visa

A global startup competition supporting founders building innovative payment and commerce technologies, with cash prizes and mentorship from Visa's innovation team.

#competition#fintech#startup

Apply → visaeverywhereinitiative.com

📍 Asia-Pacific regionPaidMedium

Youth Co:Lab National Innovation Challenge

UNDP / Citi Foundation

A regional startup idea challenge for young people building solutions to social problems such as education access, care work, and disability inclusion, with seed funding for finalists.

#competition#social-enterprise#youth

Apply → youthcolab.org

UN Institute for Disarmament Research

UNIDIR Global Disarmament Essay Competition

An essay competition inviting young people to write on disarmament, arms control, and international security, with a funded trip to Geneva for the winner.

📍 Global (online); winner trip to GenevaPaidMedium

#competition#essay#disarmament

Apply → unidir.org

Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP)

GCSP Prize for Transformative Futures in Peace and Security

A prize for innovative concepts addressing global peace and security challenges, with winners receiving a funded incubation period at GCSP in Geneva.

📍 Geneva, SwitzerlandPaidMedium

#competition#peace#security

Apply → gcsp.ch

Kellogg School of Management / Morgan Stanley

Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge

A graduate student pitch competition for innovative financial solutions to social and environmental problems, with a New York or London final pitch event.

📍 Global (online); final in New York or LondonPaidHard

#competition#finance#sustainability

Apply → kellogg.northwestern.edu

📍 Global (online application)PaidMedium

MIT Solve The Care Economy Challenge

MIT Solve

A challenge specifically for technology-enabled solutions to childcare, eldercare, and disability-support gaps, funded through MIT Solve's broader innovation network.

#competition#social-impact#care-economy

Apply → solve.mit.edu

Stanford Center on Longevity

Stanford Center on Longevity Design Challenge

A design competition for student teams proposing products or services that improve healthy aging and human longevity, judged in a final pitch round.

📍 Global (online); finals at Stanford, USAPaidHard

#competition#design#healthcare

Apply → longevity.stanford.edu

Global Canvas Children's Art Competition

Global Canvas

A children's art competition spanning painting, sculpture, textile, and collage on an annual theme, with cash or supply-voucher prizes for winners.

#competition#art#children

Apply → globalcanvas.org

Toyota Logistic Design Competition

Toyota

A design competition inviting student teams to propose 2D or 3D circular-economy object designs addressing transportation and material-use challenges.

#competition#design#sustainability

Apply → toyota-mobility.com

H.G. Wells Society / literary festival

HG Wells Short Story Competition

An annual themed short-story competition for young writers under 21, with a notable cash grand prize and publication opportunity.

#competition#writing#fiction

Apply → hgwellscompetition.com

Depict! (UK film festival)

Depict! Short Film Competition

A short film competition capping entries at 90 seconds across any genre, screened at UK festivals, with a modest cash prize pool.

#competition#film#short-form

Apply → depictfilms.com

Yale Drama Series Playwriting Competition

Yale University Press

A playwriting competition for early-career writers judged by a working playwright, with the winning full-length play published by Yale University Press and given a professional staged reading.

#competition#playwriting#literature

Apply → yalebooks.yale.edu

📍 Global (online); workshop in Los Angeles, USAPaidMedium

Sony Future Filmmaker Awards

Sony Pictures

A short-film competition across genre categories including a dedicated student track, with a funded workshop trip to Sony Pictures Studios for finalists.

#competition#film#student

Apply → sonyfuturefilmmakerawards.com

Royal Observatory Greenwich

Astronomy Photographer of the Year

One of the world's leading astrophotography competitions, spanning categories from deep sky to people-and-space, with substantial cash prizes and a London exhibition.

#competition#photography#astronomy

Apply → rmg.co.uk

American Meteorological Society

American Meteorological Society Photo Contest

A photography competition capturing weather, water, and climate phenomena, judged by atmospheric scientists, with modest cash prizes for winners.

#competition#photography#weather

Apply → ametsoc.org

Royal Meteorological Society

Standard Chartered Weather Photographer of the Year

A weather and climate photography competition across multiple categories including a youth award, celebrating images of meteorological phenomena worldwide.

#competition#photography#weather

Apply → rmets.org

500px Global Photography Awards

500px

An annual photography competition across six genre categories, judged by industry photographers, with cash prizes for category winners.

#competition#photography#global

Apply → 500px.com

Rossiya Segodnya (Sputnik)

Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest

A photojournalism competition for young photographers documenting current events, spanning news, sports, and portrait categories, with a substantial cash grand prize.

#competition#photography#journalism

Apply → stenincontest.com

Current World Archaeology magazine

Current World Archaeology (CWA) Photo Competition

A photography competition celebrating archaeological sites and heritage worldwide, with winners receiving conference passes and a magazine feature.

#competition#photography#archaeology

Apply → the-past.com

Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM)

Environmental Photographer of the Year

A photography award recognizing images that capture the human relationship with the environment, spanning categories from climate change to conservation.

#competition#photography#environment

Apply → eposeyeoftheday.com

Royal Society of Biology Photography Competition

Royal Society of Biology

An annual biology-themed photography competition with junior and open categories, celebrating images that capture the diversity of life sciences.

#competition#photography#biology

Apply → rsb.org.uk

Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival

Banff Mountain Photo Essay Contest

A photo-essay competition (3-5 images with narrative) capturing mountain culture, adventure sport, or wildlife, judged as part of Canada's renowned mountain festival.

#competition#photography#outdoors

Apply → banffcentre.ca

Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest

Smithsonian Magazine

An annual photography contest across categories like natural world, travel, and people, with a notable grand prize and category winners featured in the magazine.

#competition#photography#global

Apply → smithsonianmag.com

World Photography Organisation / Sony

Sony World Photography Awards

One of the largest global photography competitions, spanning professional, open, student, and youth categories, with winners announced at a London ceremony and gear prizes.

📍 Global (online); ceremony in LondonPaidMedium

#competition#photography#global

Apply → worldphoto.org

Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition

Nikon

The world's leading photomicrography competition, recognizing the best images and videos captured through a light microscope, with a substantial grand prize.

#competition#photography#science

Apply → nikonsmallworld.com

Global Peter Drucker Forum

Global Peter Drucker Forum Essay Contest

An essay contest on management, leadership, and economic themes tied to the annual Peter Drucker Forum in Vienna, with cash prizes and a funded trip to the conference for winners.

📍 Global (online); event in ViennaPaidMedium

#competition#essay#management

Apply → druckerforum.org

World History Association

World History Association Student Essay Contest

An essay contest inviting secondary students to reflect on the value of studying world history, with a cash prize for the top entry.

#competition#essay#history

Apply → thewha.org

World Trade Organization Essay Award for Young Economists

World Trade Organization

An essay award encouraging original economic research on international trade policy, open to PhD students and young researchers, with a cash prize and possible publication.

#competition#essay#economics

Apply → wto.org

American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG)

American Society of Human Genetics DNA Day Essay Contest

An essay contest for high schoolers on a genetics-related prompt tied to National DNA Day, judged by genetics professionals with cash prizes for top entries.

#competition#essay#genetics

Apply → ashg.org

Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA)

Jane Austen Society of North America Essay Contest

A literary-analysis essay contest on Jane Austen's novels across three academic levels (high school, college, graduate), with cash prizes for each category.

#competition#essay#literature

Apply → jasna.org

University of Cambridge (Hughes Hall)

Cambridge Re:think Essay Competition

An essay competition spanning moral, political, scientific, and philosophical prompts for secondary school students, with a substantial combined cash prize pool.

#competition#essay#cambridge

Apply → rethinkessaycompetition.wordpress.com

Newnham College, University of Cambridge

Woolf Essay Prize

An essay prize for female secondary school students responding to an annually set prompt, named for Virginia Woolf, with book-token prizes for top entries.

#competition#essay#women

Apply → newn.cam.ac.uk

University of Oxford (St Hugh's College)

St Hugh's College Sixth Form Essay Competitions

A set of multi-subject essay competitions for secondary school students on Oxford-style set questions, offering cash prizes and academic feedback.

#competition#essay#oxford

Apply → st-hughs.ox.ac.uk

Trinity College, University of Cambridge

Trinity College Cambridge Essay Prizes

A series of subject essay prizes (law, history, literature, linguistics) for secondary school students, judged by Trinity College fellows, with the prize split between student and school.

#competition#essay#cambridge

Apply → trin.cam.ac.uk

Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge

Fitzwilliam College Essay Competitions

A set of subject-specific essay competitions (across humanities and social sciences) for pre-university students, with cash prizes and feedback from Cambridge academics.

#competition#essay#cambridge

Apply → fitz.cam.ac.uk

Royal Commonwealth Society

The Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition

The world's oldest international schools' writing competition, inviting essays on Commonwealth-related themes across junior and senior age categories, with winners honored at a London ceremony.

📍 Global (online); ceremony in LondonPaidMedium

#competition#essay#commonwealth

Apply → thercs.org

Ayn Rand Institute Essay Contests (Anthem, Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged)

Ayn Rand Institute

A set of annual essay contests open to students on Ayn Rand's novels Anthem, The Fountainhead, and Atlas Shrugged, each with a tiered cash prize pool and separate age brackets.

#competition#essay#literature

Apply → aynrand.org

UNESCO Clubs Worldwide Multimedia Contest

UNESCO Clubs

A multimedia (video, essay, or art) competition inviting youth to propose ways their community can advance a specific UN Sustainable Development Goal, with a US-based youth camp invitation for top entries.

#competition#sdgs#multimedia

Apply → unescocentre.org.uk

UNESCO-UNEVOC Skills in Action Photo Competition

UNESCO-UNEVOC

A photography competition documenting technical and vocational skills development around the world, intended to highlight the human side of workforce training.

#competition#photography#vocational-education

Apply → unevoc.unesco.org

Government of India (Ministry of Education)

Smart India Hackathon

India's largest national hackathon, where student teams build working solutions to real problem statements submitted by government ministries and industry partners over a 36-hour build.

📍 IndiaPaidHard

#hackathon#india#team

Apply → sih.gov.in

📍 Global (online, world finals in-person)PaidHard

Microsoft Imagine Cup

Microsoft

A global student technology competition where teams build a working product using Microsoft's cloud and AI tools, with mentorship and a path to Microsoft's startup programs.

#competition#technology#startup

Apply → imaginecup.microsoft.com

📍 Multiple countriesPaidMedium

Samsung Solve for Tomorrow

Samsung

A competition challenging students to design a product, app, or service idea that solves a real-world community problem, with incubation support for finalist teams.

#competition#innovation#product-design

Apply → samsung.com

📍 Global (online)PaidMedium

IBM Master the Mainframe Challenge

IBM

A three-level self-paced learning competition teaching mainframe computing fundamentals, with travel stipends and scholarships awarded to top performers.

#competition#mainframe#coding

Apply → ibm.com

International Youth Math Challenge

International Youth Math Challenge (IYMC)

A multi-round online mathematics competition open to school and college students worldwide, progressing from qualifiers through pre-finals to a final round.

📍 Global (online)PaidMedium

#competition#mathematics#online

Apply → iymc.info

NASA / Houston Cinema Arts Society

NASA CineSpace Short Film Competition

A short film competition requiring entrants to incorporate real NASA footage or imagery into an original narrative, screened at a Houston film festival.

📍 Global (submission); festival in Houston, USAPaidMedium

#competition#film#nasa

Apply → hcasociety.org

NASA / Canadian Space Agency

NASA Deep Space Food Challenge

A challenge inviting teams to design novel food-production technologies capable of feeding astronauts on years-long deep space missions with minimal resource input.

#competition#space#food-science

Apply → deepspacefoodchallenge.org

Geneva Graduate Institute

The Geneva Challenge

An annual team competition inviting graduate students worldwide to propose pragmatic, evidence-based solutions to a pressing global development problem, judged by an expert panel in Geneva.

📍 Geneva, SwitzerlandPaidHard

#competition#policy#graduate

Apply → thegenevachallenge.ch

📍 Geneva, Switzerland (winning trip)PaidHard

CERN Beamline for Schools Competition

CERN

An international competition where teams of high schoolers design a real particle-physics experiment, with winning teams traveling to run their experiment on an actual CERN beamline.

#competition#physics#team

Apply → beamlineforschools.cern

📍 Global (online, finals in-person)PaidHard

Google Code Jam

Google

Google's long-running international algorithmic programming competition, run in timed online rounds that narrow down to an in-person world championship.

#competition#coding#algorithms

Apply → codingcompetitions.withgoogle.com

IBM Call for Code Global Challenge

IBM

A global hackathon-style challenge inviting developers to build open-source technology solutions to pressing humanitarian and climate problems, with a substantial prize pool.

#hackathon#open-source#social-impact

Apply → developer.ibm.com

📍 Global (online application)PaidMedium

MIT Solve Global Challenges

MIT Solve

An open innovation platform that runs annual challenges (health, climate, economic prosperity, learning) and connects selected Solver teams with funding, mentorship, and MIT's network.

#competition#social-impact#funding

Apply → solve.mit.edu

📍 Global (finals in Paris)PaidHard

Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge

Hello Tomorrow

A global deep-tech startup competition connecting founders working on hard-science solutions (energy, biotech, materials, etc.) with investors, corporates, and a large cash prize pool.

#competition#deep-tech#startup

Apply → hello-tomorrow.org

📍 Global (submission by country)PaidMedium

James Dyson Award

James Dyson Foundation

An international student design-engineering award recognizing inventions that solve real problems, judged first nationally and then by James Dyson himself at the international stage.

#competition#design#engineering

Apply → jamesdysonaward.org

The Earth Prize Foundation

The Earth Prize

A global environmental innovation competition for teenage teams to design solutions to real sustainability problems, with a large combined prize pool for students, mentors, and schools.

#competition#sustainability#team

Apply → theearthprize.org

Breakthrough Prize Foundation

Breakthrough Junior Challenge

A global video competition inviting teens to explain a challenging concept in life sciences, physics, or mathematics in an engaging short film, with a major scholarship as the top prize.