Learn more about ORISE and how we're supporting DOE and other federal agencies' missions to strengthen the nation's science education and research initiatives.

What's Happening at ORISE

  • 6th-12th Graders: JSTI Applications are now open!

    JSTI is an all-expenses-paid residential STEM research experience in Maryland or New Mexico. Join us to participate in a hands-on research project mentored by scientists while living on campus at a university! You will gain research experience and problem solving skills while learning about STEM careers and meeting new people.

    The deadline for this research experience is March 31. Visit the JSTI East website or JSTI West website for more info!

  • STEM Competitions for K-12 Students

    Calling all students: Crazy Contraptions Student Competition

    Have you ever been lying in bed, wishing you could turn off the light from across the room? Let’s hear how you’d do it! The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) wants to see your idea for a crazy contraption that completes a simple task in a wacky way! To enter this competition, you will design your own Rube Goldberg machine to get the job done. Below you will find grade specific details on what your project should include! TWELVE prizes will be awarded with three winners per grade band—three for K-2nd, three for 3rd-5th, three for 6th-8th and three for 9th-12th.

    The deadline for this contest is March 31. Visit the STEM Competitions for K-12 Students page for more info!

  • STEM Competitions for K-12 Educators

    K-12 Educators: Discovering Hidden Figures

    This March we would love to celebrate the lesser-known discoverers and trailblazers of the STEM fields. There are many remarkable experts who deserve recognition for their work yet are not widely included in K-12 education. Movies such as Hidden Figures or children’s books about Temple Grandin and Ray Montague demonstrate this. The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) wants to see how you incorporate largely unknown experts in the STEM fields and their discoveries into your lesson plans. Teachers of any grade level or subject are invited to submit a STEM lesson plan that includes obscure contributors to a STEM field. THREE teachers who submit lesson plans will be selected to receive the prizes listed below!

    The deadline for this contest is March 31. Visit the STEM Competitions for K-12 Educators page for more info!