🌍 Open Call for Global Changemakers

The SDG Olympiad invites students from around the world to collaborate, innovate, and drive real impact toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Whether you’re joining through a university-led program, a sponsored opportunity, or independently, there is a clear path for you to take action.

🧭 Participation Pathways

SDG Innovation Events

Join a summer school, hackathon, data sprint, semester project, or innovation lab hosted by one of our partner universities.
Teams are formed onsite, challenges are assigned by the host institution, and expert mentorship is provided throughout the event.
Top-performing teams from each event will advance to the SDG Olympiad finals.

🔗 See Upcoming Events and Host Institutions

University of Geneva
Université de Paris (Apply before May 30)
Rice University
Knust (Ongoing)
University of Lagos
United States International University – Africa
University of Copenhagen (Apply before July 21)
AIT
Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology

Independent Participation (Powered by Global Citizen)

For students without access to an affiliated event or sponsoring institution, the Olympiad offers a flexible track:

Team Application: Form your own team of 3 to 5 students from any field or country. The application process starts on June 1st.

This year, we invite all independent participants to tackle a featured global challenge focused on narrative and youth mobilization.

🔗 Tackle the Global Narrative Challenge (Coming soon)

Want to know what’s expected?

Learn more about our criteria, expected deliverables, and evaluation process in the official participant guide.

🔗 Download the Participation & Submission Guide

Key dates

June 1st: Launch of SDG Olympiad independent track

August: Teams selected to go to the SDG Olympiad Award Event get individual coaching sessions to help their projects move forward towards the goal of producing practical SDG data.

August–September: Advancing teams refine their prototypes, engage stakeholders, and test solutions. Final submissions include a research report and a 3-minute pitch video by September 30.

October 10-13: The SDG Olympiad Award Event showcase solutions to be evaluated by an international jury of experts. The most promising projects gain access to support deploying their solutions and sustaining them financially.