Xccelerate Technologies Foundation (XTF) was established in 2019 to do one thing: lower the cost of being a young scientist. We are a Swiss-registered non-profit, independently governed, and accountable to the public — not to a sponsor, a school district or a single national interest.
For the past century, science has had a structural problem: the people most likely to discover what comes next — curious young people — are also the least likely to have access to mentorship, equipment, lab time, or a venue to present their work. XTF exists to close that gap.
We do not believe a student in Lagos, Manila or La Paz is one drop of brilliance short of a student in Cambridge. We believe they're often one mentor, one piece of lab equipment, or one airfare short. So we built a foundation that delivers exactly those things — without strings, without IP claims, and without the pay-to-play architecture that has crept into too many "global" student competitions.
The student science ecosystem in 2019 was — in our reading — already broken in three specific ways. XTF is the operational answer to each one.
The four largest student science competitions in the world were collectively held in three countries. We made XTF a single global pool, with travel funded for every finalist.
Most national programs end at the trophy. We built a Mentor Network that continues for two years after the competition closes — university applications, lab placements, research follow-up.
A surprising number of "free" competitions quietly take a share of student work. XTF's bylaws prohibit any claim to participant IP. We're audited annually on it.
XTF is governed by an unpaid, independent board of nine members serving staggered three-year terms. No more than three board members may be affiliated with the same institution. Board meeting minutes are published quarterly.
Chair · Professor of Computational Biology, NUS · Former Vice-Chair, Global Young Academy
Vice-Chair · Senior Fellow, CERN Open Lab · Coordinator, Latin American Physics Olympiad
Treasurer · Founder, West Africa STEM Trust · CFA
Group Leader, EMBL-EBI · Editor-in-Chief, XTF Proceedings
Tokyo Institute of Technology · Robotics Track Lead, 2021–2024
Director, Mozilla Foundation Africa · Privacy & Civic Tech
USP São Paulo · Climate & Atmospheric Sciences
Founding Director, Bangalore Quantum Initiative
Youth Board Seat · 2024 Grand Champion · Currently a sophomore at ETH Zurich
Executive Director
Director of Programs
Director of Judging & Review
Director of Partnerships
Director of Operations & Travel
Director of the XTF Open Curriculum
Every team that advances past the first review round is matched with at least one XTF Mentor. Mentors commit to 8–15 hours of consultation between September and the Grand Finals. We screen, train and rotate them annually.
PhD students, postdocs, professors, and industry engineers from 47 countries. About 35% are themselves XTF alumni.
Teams self-describe their project. Our reviewers tag it on 14 dimensions (sub-track, method, stage, language). Mentors are auto-suggested; a coordinator confirms.
Applications open every January. Mentors must be at least 2 years past their bachelor's, in a related field, and pass a youth-safeguarding check. Apply →
XTF seed grants are not academic scholarships. We don't pay tuition. We pay for the friction that actually stops young researchers — a microcontroller kit, three weeks of cloud compute, a one-way ticket to the lab that said yes.
| Tier | Form | What it covers | Open to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Builder | Microgrant | Hardware, software licenses, prototyping materials, lab consumables. | Any registered team (rolling) |
| Compute | Cloud credits | Compute and storage on partner clouds; one-year terms. | AI/ML and Quantum tracks (rolling) |
| Lab Residency | Mid-tier grant + travel | 2–8 weeks in a host lab, including travel and stipend. | Shortlisted teams (annual cycle) |
| Continuation Grant | Major continuation grant | Post-competition follow-on to mature a finalist project. | Finalists, by panel review |
The XTF Open Curriculum is a CC BY-SA 4.0 library of modular teaching materials, designed for after-school clubs, STEM teachers and home-schoolers. No subscription, no login wall, no premium tier.
Each module includes a teacher guide, student workbook, slide deck, and an assessment rubric. Modules ship in English, Spanish, French, Mandarin, Arabic and Portuguese.
Independence isn't a slogan; it's a set of bylaws. The short version:
| Category | % of operating budget |
|---|---|
| Prizes & grants paid to students | 54% |
| Travel & finalist logistics | 15% |
| Mentor & judge programs | 8% |
| Open Curriculum & Educator Hub | 9% |
| Operations & staff | 12% |
| Communications & outreach | 2% |
88% of operating funds reach students directly through prizes, grants, travel or curriculum. Full audit report: 2024 Annual Report (PDF).
An ad-hoc panel of seven researchers — frustrated by the lack of open student competitions — files for non-profit status. First call for projects goes out in June; 412 teams apply from 18 countries.
The first XTF Grand Finals are held virtually. 24 finalist teams; first Grand Champion is a biosensor project from a public high school in Buenos Aires.
In partnership with Mozilla Foundation and EMBL-EBI, XTF publishes the first 18 modules of the Open Curriculum under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The first volume of the XTF Proceedings is indexed by DOAJ; 38 student-led papers across the eight tracks.
XTF receives submissions from 54 countries, half of them low- or middle-income. Travel-funded finalists from 22 nations land in Geneva.
The 2026 Challenge is the largest in XTF's history, with eight tracks, three divisions and continuation grants for every finalist team.
