Shanya Gill, 12, from San Jose, California; won the $25,000 Thermo Fisher Scientific ASCEND (Aspiring Scientists Cultivating Exciting New Discoveries) Award, the top prize in the competition.

2023: Society for Science today announced the winners of the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge (Thermo Fisher JIC), the nation’s premier middle school science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competition.

Finals week of the inaugural Thermo Fisher Junior Innovators Challenge is finally here! Thirty of the top middle school STEM innovators have gathered from across the country in Washington, D.C. for a week of presenting their projects to scientific experts, taking part in team-based challenges and, most importantly, making new friends and having fun.

Here you’ll find links to learn more about each of the 2023 top 30 JIC finalists, who represent 12 states across the country. Scroll through the finalists and click through to learn more about them and their projects. Each profile includes their research poster, a video and other interesting information about the finalist and their project.