What is the Young Scientist Competiton?
The Young Scientist Competition is an annual competition offering undergraduate/master’s students the opportunity to present their current/recently completed food-related project in front of an audience and a panel of food professionals. If shortlisted you will have 5 minutes to present your research followed by 5 minutes of questions from our panel.
Winners will receive a prize of £500.
How to enter
Applicants are required to submit an abstract no longer than 250 words on current work or a recently completed project. The project must be food related in areas such as food science, food technology or human nutrition. Successful shortlisted applicants will be invited to present their research to our panel and will be judged on scientific, originality, innovation, industrial applications and effective communication skills.
Deadline for applications is 9th May. * For Scotland based universities this deadline is 28th April. *
Regional Finals
If shortlisted you will be invited to present at one of four regional events (based on your university’s location):
| Regional Event | Location | Date |
| Scotland | Glasgow Caledonian University | 14th May 2025 |
| North of England and Midlands | University of Leeds | 11th June 2025 |
| South of England and Wales | Food and Drink Federation, London | 18th June 2025 |
| Northern Ireland | Tbc | Tbc |
Kindly sponsored by:
Eligibility:
- The competition is open to undergraduate and masters students
- The project must be food related in areas such as food science, food technology or human nutrition
- The subject and presentation do not have to be taken from your final year project/dissertation, they can be taken from a piece of coursework or work experience
- This competition is only open to UK-based students
