Competition
Slingshot Challenge 2027
National Geographic Society
At a glance
- Deadline
- Closes 5 February 2027, 106 days leftThe posting gives a date, not a time. Days left are counted in Lagos time.
- Fee
- No fee to apply
- Who may apply
- aged 13 to 18 at the time of submission
- Where
- Remote. Online, from any country
A National Geographic challenge where young people aged 13 to 18 anywhere in the world send a one minute video of their idea to solve an environmental problem, for a chance at up to USD 10,000 to bring it to life.
The facts
- What you get
- Awards of up to USD 10,000
- Where
- Online, from any country
- How long
- Submissions due 5 February 2027; award recipients announced May 2027
Where you stand
This one is free. There is no fee to apply, and nobody should ask you for money at any point.
What they ask for
- aged 13 to 18 at the time of submission
Get ready to apply
Built only from what this listing states. Tick as you go; the ticks stay on your phone and are not sent anywhere.
The application takes real work, by our reading.
1. What to get ready
In their words: “A one minute video submitted online”
2. Dates
- Closes 5 February 2027, in 106 days.
- Aim to send it by 2 February 2027. Websites slow down near a deadline, and data runs out. Our advice
Download checklist (.txt) Send to WhatsApp
The download is a small text file. You can read it later without data. It also lists each condition they set, so you can tick yourself against them. WhatsApp sends the same list to you, or to somebody helping you.
No CV yet? Make a plain one from your answers. Nothing you type is kept.
Tips for applying for a competition
General advice from us, the same for every competition. It is not what this organisation says; that is above.
- Read the rules and the judging criteria first, and write to them.
- Check who owns your work after you enter. The rules usually say.
- Submit a day early. Upload pages are often slow near a deadline.
If there is an interview or a test
- If there is a final or a pitch, practise out loud and time yourself.
All our tips and messages to copy. Practise answering, with nothing kept. Received an offer? Check whether it is real, then read before you say yes.
How to apply
You apply on National Geographic Society's own website, not here. We never send an application for anybody and we never ask you for anything to pass on. Check their page for anything not shown here.
More like this, open now
How we checked this
This was opened and verified at National Geographic Society's own website on 2 October 2026: it was real, still open, and open to people from African countries. If anything here is wrong, tell us.