{ "snapshot_date": "2026-05-29", "dataset_version": "0.1.0", "official_name": "Breakthrough Junior Challenge", "site_url": "https://breakthroughjuniorchallenge.org", "submission_deadline": "2026-09-15 23:59 PDT", "peer_review_deadline": "2026-09-30 23:59 PDT", "fit_cards": [ { "label": "Best-fit student", "value": "13-18", "note": "A student who can explain one difficult idea in physics, life sciences, or mathematics with clarity and visual control." }, { "label": "Core artifact", "value": "2:00 video", "note": "The public product is a YouTube video link, plus the profile, application, and peer review requirement." }, { "label": "Prize signal", "value": "$400K", "note": "$250,000 scholarship, $50,000 teacher prize, and up to $100,000 for a school science lab." } ], "fields": [ { "name": "Physics", "best_for": "Students who can make an invisible mechanism visible.", "examples": [ "Entropy through a room-level demonstration", "Relativity through clocks, light, and measured consequences", "Quantum tunneling through a physical analogy plus one precise boundary" ], "watchouts": "Avoid a flashy animation that never explains the mechanism." }, { "name": "Life Sciences", "best_for": "Students who can move from cell, organism, or system to a clear causal story.", "examples": [ "CRISPR as a search-and-repair process", "Synaptic pruning and learning", "Evolution by natural selection through a measurable selection pressure" ], "watchouts": "Chemistry fits only when it sits inside life sciences, such as biochemistry or cell function." }, { "name": "Mathematics", "best_for": "Students who can turn abstraction into a concrete sequence of insight.", "examples": [ "The pigeonhole principle through a surprising guarantee", "Bayes theorem through changing evidence", "Fourier series through a sound or image decomposition" ], "watchouts": "A calculator trick or formula walk-through usually lacks enough difficulty." } ], "judging": [ { "criterion": "Engagement", "question": "Does the viewer want to keep watching?", "strategy": "Open with a real tension, a visual puzzle, or a concrete case that makes the concept necessary." }, { "criterion": "Illumination", "question": "Does the viewer understand the idea more deeply by the end?", "strategy": "Name the misconception, show the mechanism, and close the loop with a before-and-after test." }, { "criterion": "Creativity", "question": "Does the video approach the idea in an original way?", "strategy": "Use one memorable visual system rather than a string of borrowed facts." }, { "criterion": "Difficulty", "question": "Is the concept challenging enough for a serious explanation?", "strategy": "Pick a concept usually taught at high school level or beyond, then make the hard part visible." } ], "timeline": [ { "date": "May 11, 2026", "phase": "Applications open", "student_action": "Create the account, confirm age eligibility, and choose the working field.", "advisor_note": "Do this early enough to receive official updates and avoid a September login scramble." }, { "date": "June to July 2026", "phase": "Concept lock", "student_action": "Pick one concept, write a 90-second explanation, and test it with a listener.", "advisor_note": "The best topic is specific enough to explain and difficult enough to justify the contest." }, { "date": "August 2026", "phase": "Production sprint", "student_action": "Build visuals, record, edit, and verify that the YouTube runtime is two minutes or shorter.", "advisor_note": "Use original script and direction. Technical filming help is allowed, but the explanation must be the student's." }, { "date": "September 15, 2026, 11:59 PM PDT", "phase": "Application deadline", "student_action": "Submit the application and YouTube video link before the official deadline.", "advisor_note": "Early submission gets no extra credit, but it lowers operational risk." }, { "date": "September 17-30, 2026", "phase": "Peer-to-peer review", "student_action": "Score at least five other submissions by September 30 at 11:59 PM PDT.", "advisor_note": "The application is incomplete until this step is done." }, { "date": "October 4-25, 2026", "phase": "Evaluation panel review", "student_action": "No public-facing student work unless the sponsor asks for verification.", "advisor_note": "The panel reviews the top entries after administrative screening." }, { "date": "November 24-December 9, 2026", "phase": "Popular Vote Challenge", "student_action": "If selected, share the official posts ethically and avoid vote manipulation.", "advisor_note": "Popular Vote can name a top scorer and regional champions. It is also a reputational moment." }, { "date": "December 10, 2026", "phase": "Finalists and regional champions posted", "student_action": "Capture the official result page if named.", "advisor_note": "This timing can matter for regular-decision application updates." } ], "production_playbook": [ { "stage": "Find the hard center", "move": "Write the one sentence a viewer should understand after watching.", "advisor_test": "Can the student explain why the idea is hard before explaining the idea itself?" }, { "stage": "Choose the visual grammar", "move": "Pick one system: animation, physical demo, paper model, live drawing, simulation, or mixed media.", "advisor_test": "Does every visual teach, or do some visuals only decorate?" }, { "stage": "Script for compression", "move": "Cut to three beats: hook, mechanism, consequence.", "advisor_test": "Can the student remove background facts and still preserve the explanation?" }, { "stage": "Rehearse for sound", "move": "Read the script aloud against a timer and trim sentences that feel written for a paper.", "advisor_test": "Can a listener repeat the core idea after one viewing?" }, { "stage": "Rights and release check", "move": "Use original visuals, cleared music, allowed footage, and consent for anyone identifiable.", "advisor_test": "Could every image, clip, song, and face survive a rules review?" } ], "risks": [ { "risk": "Topic outside the three fields", "signal": "The video is really chemistry, psychology, CS, AI, or engineering without a direct physics, life sciences, or math frame.", "fix": "Anchor the explanation in the official categories and ask a teacher if the boundary is unclear." }, { "risk": "Originality gap", "signal": "The script mostly retells a popular explainer or uses stock visuals as the explanation.", "fix": "Make the student build the analogy, demonstration, or sequence from scratch." }, { "risk": "Two-minute overrun", "signal": "The edit lands at 2:01 or the YouTube counter rounds above 2:00.", "fix": "Target 1:52 to 1:56 before final upload." }, { "risk": "Incomplete entry", "signal": "The application is submitted, but peer-to-peer reviews are unfinished.", "fix": "Calendar September 17-30 as part of the entry, not an optional follow-up." }, { "risk": "Prize teacher problem", "signal": "The student cannot name an eligible teacher or lists a parent, sibling, or grandparent.", "fix": "Choose a current or past teacher or tutor who inspired the student in science or math." } ], "sources": [ { "label": "Breakthrough Junior Challenge homepage", "url": "https://breakthroughjuniorchallenge.org/", "note": "Official 2026 opening status, deadline, prizes, and timeline overview." }, { "label": "Official Rules", "url": "https://breakthroughjuniorchallenge.org/rules", "note": "Official eligibility, entry, peer review, selection, rights, and prize terms." }, { "label": "Enter page", "url": "https://breakthroughjuniorchallenge.org/enter", "note": "Official participant-facing entry steps, topic fields, video length, and peer review deadline." }, { "label": "FAQ", "url": "https://breakthroughjuniorchallenge.org/faq", "note": "Official details on registration, age, teacher, topic boundaries, video format, and originality." }, { "label": "Judging page", "url": "https://breakthroughjuniorchallenge.org/judging", "note": "Official judging criteria: engagement, illumination, creativity, and difficulty." }, { "label": "Timeline page", "url": "https://breakthroughjuniorchallenge.org/timeline", "note": "Official 2026 milestone dates from application opening through finalist posting." } ] }