Ghana Science and Tech Explorer Prize Challenge

Deadline: 14-Apr-23

Applications are now open for the Ghana Science and Tech Explorer Prize (GSTEP) Challenge, a unique opportunity for young people to learn more about innovation, entrepreneurship and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

The GSTEP Challenge provides all of the resources to take part, including lesson plans to support the application process, and additional training and mentorship for finalist teams.

Stages of Challenge

You can see the breakdown of the stages below:

Application Stage: Teams of 4-6 JHS students in the Greater Accra, Ashanti and Eastern regions can apply to the GSTEP Challenge. Student teams must be supported by an adult representative.
Assessment: A team of expert judges will pick 100 finalist teams from the Greater Accra, Ashanti and Eastern regions.
Finalist Stage: The finalist teams will be supported to develop their ideas, with the help of expert mentors, training materials and equipment, participation in industry engagement opportunities, all free of charge. They will also be invited to pitch to a panel of expert judges.
Awards and Prizes: The winning teams will be presented at a prestigious awards ceremony. There are some amazing awards on offer, including cash prizes, STEM resources, equipment and gadgets for the team, teacher and represented school.

Themes

Live healthier: Providing people with what they need to lead happy and healthy lives, including physical health and mental wellbeing. This covers topics that relate to improving health, such as nutrition, hydration and exercise.
Live greener: Protecting the environment and saving the planet’s resources. This covers topics that relate to the planet, such as climate change, conservation and waste management.
Live together: Tackling social issues and helping people to live better together. This covers topics that relate to society, such as discrimination, communication, transport and crime.

Why should you take part?

You’ll have fun! You apply as a team so you will get to work with friends / classmates to come up with new ideas.
You can make a real difference! Apply what you’ve been learning at school to real life problems and issue that you care about.
Work with a whole generation of young people! Meet other young people across Ghana who are interested in similar things to you.
Prizes! An opportunity to win prizes for your school and team, including cash prizes, gadgets and work experience.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible to apply to the Ghana Science and Tech Explorer Prize (GSTEP) Challenge:
- Teams must contain between 4 and 6 members.
- All team members must attend a Junior High School (JHS) at the time of applying to the GSTEP Challenge.
- All team members must attend the same school in either the Greater Accra, Eastern or Ashanti regions.
- Both public and private schools are eligible to apply.
- Teams must be represented by an adult (18+ years of age) who is associated with that Junior High School (JHS). The majority of these adults will be teachers. However, teams can be represented by another adult who is associated and selected by the school.
Please note that:
- Multiple teams from the same Junior High School (JHS) can enter (they highly encourage as many students as possible to apply from each school).
- A teacher, or adult representative, can be associated with multiple teams (for example, a teacher can represent their whole class)
- Team members cannot be a part of multiple teams.