ClimateScience hosts two age brackets: 14-17 and 18-25. If you are in one of those at the time of registration, you are eligible regardless of nationality or other factors. Both members of a team must be within the same age bracket at the time of application. We will require proof-of-age from everyone who makes it to the semi-finals.

Both age brackets participate in the same qualifiers and answer the same type of problem statements. However, we only compare participants within their age groups. This means we score the two brackets independently and normalize them within each other. Semi-finalists, finalists, and eventually the winners are then chosen based on the highest normalized score across age groups. This ensures fair comparison regardless of age.

Qualifiers: Only 5% of participants can advance to the semi-finals, so preparation can make a major difference. You could take our courses or complete our quizzes in the app. Beyond that, read about whatever you are interested in and connect things during the event!

Semi-finalists: If you made it to the semi-finals, congratulations! All semi-finalists are invited to a ClimateScience-led training group to help you prepare intensely if you want to.

Finalists: Same as semi-finals.

Winners: The top 3 teams win US$5,000, US$3,000 and US$2,000, respectively. The prize money is split half/half between the two team members or awarded in full in case the winner participated on their own.

Finalists: If there's no more pandemic, finalists will meet in person and attend the 'Green zone' of the United Nations Climate Summit (COP-26) in Glasgow on Nov 1-12, 2021. We are applying for finalists to also get a chance to enter the zone where political conversations happen and will post an update on this by April 2021.

Semi-finalists: You are invited to a ClimateScience-led training group to help you prepare for the semi-final and, if you proceed, for the final.

Qualifiers: Not applicable. Qualifiers are online, so there should be no travel expenses.

Semi-finals: Not applicable. Semi-finals are online, so there should be no travel expenses.

Finalists: Maybe. COVID-permitting, finalists will get a chance to attend the United Nations Climate Summit (COP-26) in Glasgow on Nov 1-12, 2021 (see 'What can I win?' for details). We are currently in conversation with potential sponsors to support travel expenses, but we can't guarantee this as of now.

Stay tuned for updates!

Complexity, relevance, reasoning, structure & effectiveness, and your ability to provide reliable sources. All teams will have access to the rubric prior to the event. A judge’s final score will be the team’s raw score. Based on all of the scores in a single age bracket over a one-month period, the z-scores for each team will be calculated. A z-score is the distance a raw score is from the average. More importantly, it allows us to normalize scores across different judges to provide a fair score to all teams.

Once we have all the z-scores from every team that competed in one month, we take the top 10% of the z-scores from the individual age brackets. The responses of this top 10% are rescored by another two judges. The z-score calculation process repeats and then the top 50% of these z-scores from both age brackets is determined. This top 50% of teams are those who will be invited to compete in the CS Olympiad Semi-Finals!