Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, now run with MIT Solve, asks US public school students in grades 6 to 12 to use science, technology, engineering and math to tackle a real problem in their school or community. A teacher submits the entry for the student team by answering five short questions, and 500 schools win prize packages of Samsung technology and classroom resources, up to $50,000 for the national winner.

What you get:

• Prizes go to the school, in Samsung technology and classroom resources, such as funding through the education nonprofit DonorsChoose
• 400 Promising Innovator schools win $500 in prizes
• 90 Semi-Finalist schools win $5,500 in prizes
• Nine National Finalist schools win $25,000 in prizes; one National Winner wins $50,000 in prizes
• Three extra $10,000 awards: Employee Choice, Community Choice and the new AI Impact Award
• Mentoring from Samsung employees and experts in the MIT Solve network, plus free application clinics and design thinking workshops
• Finalists get an all-expenses-paid trip to the in-person finals event

What you'll do:

• Pick a community challenge with your classmates and your teacher
• Your teacher answers five questions about the project, each in 200 words or less
• Semi-finalists make a 3-minute project video; finalists pitch live to judges in April 2027

Key dates:

• Applications open September 30, 2026
• Applications close November 23, 2026
• Promising Innovators and semi-finalists announced January 20, 2027
• Semi-finalist video phase January 20 to March 3, 2027
• National finalists announced March 18, 2027
• Final event and winner announcement April 2027

More information:

• Themes: environmental sustainability, social change through sports and technology, accessibility through STEM, and open innovation
• Samsung says key dates for 2026 to 2027 are subject to change
• Questions go to the MIT Solve helpdesk, help@solve.mit.edu

• Students in grades 6 to 12 at a school in the 50 US states or Washington, D.C.
• The school must be at least 50 percent publicly funded; charter schools qualify if they meet that bar
• Home schools, private schools, privately funded charter schools, elementary grades up to 5, and colleges are not eligible
• The entry must be submitted by an educator aged 21 or older, employed full time by the school, who stays employed there through the final event in April 2027
• One application per educator; more than one educator from a school may apply. Applications submitted directly by students are not eligible
• All team members must be at the same school; teams can be any size
• Applications must be in English
• Samsung employees, affiliates, agencies and their immediate families and households cannot enter