May 29 : Across India, innovation is no longer confined to engineering colleges or startup incubators. Students as young as 10 years old are now being introduced to AI, robotics, sustainability, and research-led problem solving through national platforms designed to turn curiosity into real-world innovation.
For students between the ages of 10 and 22, the following five platforms are open door opportunities to innovate, and develop innovation capability.
Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2026
Now in its fifth year in India and active across 68 countries, Samsung’s flagship CSR initiative, Solve for Tomorrow, is a six-month structured innovation journey. Free to enter for Indian nationals aged 14 to 22, the program helps participants transform early-stage ideas into workable prototypes under expert guidance.
What You Need to Do: Submit an original concept under one of four themes, AI Living for India, Health & Education, Sport & Tech, or Environmental Sustainability, individually or in teams of up to three. Applications close on July 3, 2026 .
Prize & Benefits: Design thinking training, digital masterclasses, Samsung device prizes at multiple stages, and formal mentorship from July 2026 onward.
Outcome: Past winners have built assistive tech for the visually impaired and AI-driven sports platforms. The program combines idea submission, mentorship, design thinking, prototype development, and national visibility within a single innovation pipeline.
INSPIRE Awards MANAK
For Classes 6–10 across all recognised schools. Schools nominate up to five student ideas via the E-MIAS portal. Ideas selected by NIF move through district, state, and national-level exhibitions.
What You Need to Do: Get nominated by your school principal through inspireawards-dst.gov.in.
Prize & Benefits: Mentorship and patent support.
Outcome: The program gives students early exposure to structured scientific evaluation and national-level recognition
Viksit Bharat Buildathon
Recognized as India’s largest-ever synchronized school hackathon, the Buildathon invites students from distant towns and urban schools to participate in an innovation ecosystem.
What You Need to Do: Form a team of three to five students from Classes 6–12, register at vbb.mic.gov.in with a teacher, choose a theme, and submit a prototype video.
Prize & Benefits: Top 1,000+ teams felicitated; corporate and incubation mentorship provided.
Outcome: Proof that innovation at scale is possible, and that no geography disqualifies a student.
Atal Tinkering Labs & ATL Marathon
With over 10,000 physical labs established across India, ATLs provide students access to 3D printers, robotics, AI toolkits, and IoT devices. The annual ATL Marathon serves as the ultimate test of these resources.
What You Need to Do: Enrol in an ATL school or participate in the Marathon as a team of two to three with a teacher mentor.
Prize & Benefits: Student Internship and Entrepreneurship Programmes with incubators; patenting guidance.
Outcome: Multi-year engagement builds compounding innovation capability — not just competition readiness.
National Children's Science Congress | DST / NCSTC
As India’s oldest active school science platform (running since 1993), the NCSC focuses on the "patient inquiry" side of innovation for students aged 10–17.
What You Need to Do: Participate through your state NCSTC network. Design a study, collect primary data, and present findings at state level before advancing nationally.
Prize & Benefits: National-level representation and institutional recognition from one of India's longest-standing science mandates.
Outcome: In a world rushing toward rapid prototyping, NCSC quietly insists that patient inquiry is also innovation.
These five platforms represent a singular direction for the nation. The question for you is no longer whether the opportunity exists; it is whether you will take it.