Stockholm Junior Water Prize Competition

The U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) was founded in 1997 by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) to complement the Stockholm Water Prize. The SJWP is the world's most prestigious award presented to a high school student for a water-research project.

The competition is open to all high school students in grades 9-12 who have reached the age of 15 by August 1 of the competition year, and have conducted a water-science research project.

Competition Dates and Deadlines

• Regional winners and self-nominated students must enter the State Competition by April 15, 2026.
• State winners will receive further information entering the national competition.
  • Only State Competition winners are eligible.
• U.S. National SJWP competition will be a two-phase competition to take place in May/June 2026.
• International SJWP competition held at World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden, in August 2026.

The 2026 State Competition submission portal is now OPEN! Please submit your projects online. 

For more information, contact Alison Hayden.

Overall Eligibility and Requirements

The competition is open to any high school student in grades 9 through 12, who has conducted a water-related science project and reached the age of 15 by August 1 of the competition year.

• Teams of up to two students may enter.
• Projects should be aimed at enhancing the quality of life through improvement of water quality, water resources management, or water and wastewater treatment. Projects can explore water issues on local, regional, national, or global issues.
• It is essential that all projects use a research-oriented approach, which means they must use scientifically accepted methodologies for experimentation, monitoring, and reporting, including statistical analysis.

Entries are judged based on six different criteria:

• relevance,
• creativity,
• methodology,
• subject knowledge,
• practical skills, and
• report and presentation.

Unlike other science competitions, this competition weighs the quality of the scientific research paper much more heavily than the poster presentation.p.