The Big Bang Competition opens

Students aged 11 to 18 across the UK are invited to dream big and get creative by entering a STEM project into The Big Bang Competition.   

The 2025 Competition will feature brand-new special awards from the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) and Institute of Healthcare Engineering & Estate Management (IHEEM). The ECITB Teamwork Award celebrates the importance of teamwork and collaboration. The IHEEM Innovation in Wellbeing and Healthcare Engineering Award recognises student projects across topics such as healthcare, medication and humanitarian aid.   

Open to students of all abilities, every young person who enters will receive invaluable feedback from real scientists, engineers, and technologists, giving them the chance to learn, improve, and grow.  

Students can explore any STEM topic that sparks their curiosity and enter either as individuals or as part of a team. They can showcase their ideas in a variety of creative formats, from drawings and 3D models to video submissions.  

With 7 themes to choose from, the Big Bang Challenges cover topics like AI and robotics, extreme weather, air quality and more.  Each resource helps to bring exciting STEM concepts to life in the classroom.  

Sarah Ansaf won the Big Bang UK Young Scientist of the Year 2024 award with her project on pain relievers' dissolution rates and their subsequent absorption into the body. She shared her excitement after she won: “I'm really happy, I can't process it right now! It feels like a dream. It means a lot to me, because it's my first time doing a science project!”  

Winners will be announced at a spectacular awards ceremony during The Big Bang Fair, which returns to the NEC in Birmingham in June 2025. 

Entries for The Big Bang Competition close on 26 March 2025 at 5pm.