May 2026
John Locke closes, Breakthrough starts to matter, Sci-MI may still be open, and iGEM teams should stop staying vague.
Writing
Research
Science communication
Student opportunities
Deadlines should not be a secret.
A WDC guide for students who hear about olympiads, research programs, summer schools, writing contests, and business competitions after everyone else has already started.
School opportunities
Competitions and programs with real preparation behind them.
A separate WDC space for olympiads, research programs, summer schools, writing contests, business competitions, economics competitions, and application windows students usually hear about too late.
Open the programs board
2026 calendar
Know what is coming before it is urgent.
Main application seasons and recurring windows across academics, research, business, economics, writing, and STEM.
June 2026
PROMYS, SUMaC, SSP, and Lodha Genius Programme show how early summer-program preparation really begins.
Math
STEM
Summer programs
July to September 2026
IOQM, HBCSE enrollment, Wharton, Foyle, Breakthrough, and Diamond Challenge can land close together.
Olympiads
Business
Writing
October to December 2026
RSI, TASS, Rockefeller SSRP, AMC 10/12, IARCS, and Wharton Data Science become the winter planning stack.
Research
Math
CS
Program fit
Pick the work before the name.
The strongest choices match a student’s actual lane: proofs, research, writing, coding, economics, public policy, or entrepreneurship.
For olympiads
Start months early. The first stage is not the personality; the subject is.
For research
Choose a question you can test, explain, and defend. The work has to survive questions.
For writing and business competitions
Draft early, revise hard, and know why you made every major choice.
Programs to track
Some deadlines are only visible if you look early.
A quick entry point into the programs students ask about most across STEM, research, writing, economics, and business.
IAPT/HBCSE science olympiads
Physics, chemistry, biology, and astronomy. Watch late-summer enrollment and November NSE exams.
IOQM to INMO pathway
For students who genuinely enjoy proof-based math. Registration usually builds before a September first stage.
IRIS National Fair and ISEF pathway
Best for real projects with evidence, testing, and a clear explanation. Start long before submissions open.
Indian Computing Olympiad
ZIO, ZCO, and INOI reward repeated algorithmic practice, not casual coding-club attendance.
John Locke Essay Prize
Useful if you can build one clear argument and revise it until every paragraph earns its place.
Wharton high school competitions
Strongest when the team can defend its process, assumptions, and decisions instead of just showing a nice deck.
International Business Olympiad
Business knowledge, case analysis, strategy, and presentation for students building a serious business lane.
International Economics Olympiad and Economics World Cup
Economics, finance, and applied reasoning for students who want business to be more than pitch decks.
Pioneer Research Program
Mentored research for students ready to turn a real academic question into a serious written output.
Schools and partners
Have a program students should know about?
If you run a school initiative, mentorship group, outreach program, or opportunity database, send it to WDC. We are open to shared guides, deadline boards, workshops, and recognition routes that help useful programs reach the students who would actually use them.