Key information
- Status: Open
- Grant amount: Up to $10,000
- Application opened: 26 February 2026
- Application closes: 6 April 2026, 10:00 am
Program objective
The Program is the primary mechanism through which the Office of the Chief Scientist & Engineer provides financial support to NSW high school students, either as individuals or in groups, who seek to further their education in STEM through participation in STEM-related Activities, held either domestically or internationally, including:
- competitions
- events
- academic course.
The Program aims to maximise STEM education opportunities for NSW high school students who are:
- experiencing financial hardship
- from a low socio-economic background
- from regional or remote locations
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
- living with a disability or disorder
- from any other backgrounds that might need support.
The intended outcomes of the Program are to:
- provide opportunities for a diverse sector of students to develop essential skills such as teamwork, collaboration, creativity, communication, and technical science and engineering knowledge
- help students to explore their potential, expand their perspectives and future ambitions
- build participation from students under-represented in STEM education and related industries.
- align with policies and initiatives to advance a resilient and diverse STEM workforce in NSW that meets future innovation needs and broader global technological change.
This program is administered by Office of the Chief Scientist and Engineer (OCSE).
This program is administered by Office of the Chief Scientist and Engineer.
Eligibility
Who can apply
Grant funding will be considered for students who identify with at least one of the following groups. For student teams, composition must reflect diversity, equity and inclusion which includes participants who identify with at least one of the following groups:
- experiencing financial hardship
- from remote or regional areas
- from a low socio-economic background
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
- living with a disability and/or disorder
- from any other background that might need support.
A student can only be included in one application per funding round/per year.
You can only apply for one round within the same financial year unless you were unsuccessful in the first round.
Applicants must be:
a relevant teacher or Principal at a NSW high school applying on behalf of a secondary school student or group of secondary school students
or
a relevant teacher, Principal or agent of a NSW high school or other NSW educational institution or association, in their capacity as organiser of a student team or group, which involves secondary school student entries from more than one NSW high school.
The applicant must:
have an Australian Business Number (ABN) or
be one of the following entities:
- a secondary school that is registered with the relevant authority
- a registered charity or incorporated not-for-profit organisation
- an entity incorporated in Australia
- be able to enter into a grant agreement in your own right or through an affiliated entity.
Types of projects funded under this grant
For a grant Activity to be eligible it must be a STEM related:
- competition
- event
- academic course.
The intended eligible Activity must fall into at least one of the following STEM-related areas:
- mathematical, information and computing sciences
- physical, chemical and earth sciences
- engineering, environmental sciences and energy innovation
- biological and biotechnological sciences.
When the project can start and end
The project should be started by 1 July 2026 and the project must be completed by 31 December 2026.
Who can’t apply
You are not eligible to apply for the Program if you are:
- insolvent
- an individual
- a partnership
- an unincorporated association
- a trust (however, an unincorporated trustee may apply on behalf of a trust).
- coordinating the Activity for which you are applying, except when it is for a school excursion where the school itself is the applicant
You cannot apply for Round 2 if you are successful in Round 1 of the same financial year.
What your application needs to include
Prepare your application with this checklist
To apply you must:
- Complete the online application form available at https://www.chiefscientist.nsw.gov.au/stem-outreach/stem-grants/stem-equity-and-access-program
- Provide all the information requested
- Address all the eligibility criteria
- Address the assessment criteria set out in Section 2.2 of the Guidelines – STEM Equity & Access Program 2026 - round 2 (Assessment criteria)
- Provide a Letter of Support for each student who identifies with an equity or access circumstance that is included in the eligibility criteria. For teams with greater than 10 students, you must provide a Letter of Support for at least 50% of the students that identify with the equity and access criteria.
- Provide evidence of competition, event or course registration. If you cannot provide evidence, please include proof of written approval received from the OCSE to proceed with your application.
- Submit your application by the timelines outlined in Section 3.2 of the Guidelines – STEM Equity & Access Program 2026 - round 2 (Key dates).
Address the eligibility criteria
Each applicant, as part of an application response, must confirm that they meet the eligibility criteria.
Applicants that do not address the eligibility criteria in full may be excluded from the application process at the department's discretion.
Address the assessment criteria
- Demonstrate the student’s equity and/or access circumstances through a Letter of Support.
- The Letter of Support may be completed by a responsible person outside of the student’s family who is aware of their personal and family circumstances. This might be a mentor, teacher, school counsellor, careers advisor, or social worker.
- The Letter of Support must be endorsed by a relevant teacher, advisor or Principal from the student’s school. If the student is home schooled, please contact raap.grants@chiefscientist.nsw.gov.au about how to endorse the Letter of Support.
2. Demonstrate benefits of the funding and the value of providing improved STEM skills and knowledge to the student(s) who participate in the eligible Activity.
3. Demonstrate benefits to the community arising from the eligible Activity (for example: outreach to students, teachers, industry) and the wider significance of involvement in the Activity.
4. Demonstrate alignment with the purpose of this Program and the OCSE’s core function of science outreach and education https://www.chiefscientist.nsw.gov.au/about
5. Demonstrate need for funding through a budget breakdown, including matched or co-funding contributions / support (e.g. from the applicant’s high school, parents, philanthropists or industry partners), which will leverage the Department’s investment). The budget breakdown should include your cash and in-kind contributions to the Activity.
Start the application
Before applying, you must read and understand the Guidelines – STEM Equity & Access Program 2026 - round 2
These documents may be found at https://www.chiefscientist.nsw.gov.au/stem-outreach/stem-grants/stem-equity-and-access-program
To apply you must:
- complete the online application form available at https://www.chiefscientist.nsw.gov.au/stem-outreach/stem-grants/stem-equity-and-access-program
- Provide all the information requested
- Address all the eligibility criteria
- Address the assessment criteria set out in Section 2.2 (Assessment criteria)
- Include all necessary attachments
- Submit your application by the timelines outlined in Section 3.2 Key dates.
Note:
- The application must be completed in its entirety to be eligible for consideration.
- You must clearly mark any information that should be treated confidentially.
- The application must be authorised and submitted by the relevant teacher or Principal for an individual student, or team of students, enrolled at that school or by the agent representing a team or group of secondary school student entries from more than one NSW high school.
- All eligible applicants will be assessed on merit against the selection criteria. However, the Department, at its discretion, may choose not to award or recommend funding to applicants under the Program.
Note: If you are a new applicant to SmartyGrants, you will need to register and create a password. If you are already registered, you can log in with your existing username and password.
Apply now
After the application is submitted
Successful applications will be decided by: Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology or delegate
Your application will be considered based on a two-stage process. Where the Department considers an application unsuitable or unsatisfactory against any criteria, we may exclude that application from further evaluation. Only eligible applications will move to the next stage. We consider eligible applications through an open competitive grant process.
Stage 1: Eligibility Assessment
OCSE Secretariat will conduct an initial eligibility screening for all applications according to the published eligibility criteria in the Guidelines – STEM Equity & Access Program 2026 - round 2 that are set out Section 2.1: Eligibility Criteria.
Only applications that meet all eligibility criteria will progress to assessment against the assessment criteria.
Stage 2: Assessment by the Assessment Panel
The membership of the Assessment Panel (Panel) will be determined by the Department in its sole discretion and may include independent assessors from the broader NSW public sector.
The Panel will assess each application on its merits against the assessment criteria and compare it to other eligible applications before recommending which applications are to be awarded a grant.
On behalf of the Panel, the Department may seek additional information about you or your application.
The Panel has the discretion to recommend that an applicant receive a smaller amount of funding than indicated in their application.
The Panel members are expected to assess all eligible applications unless they have a declared conflict of interest for a certain application(s).
Panel members will individually assess all eligible applications against each criterion set out Section 2.2 Assessment Criteria. All criteria have equal weighting.
When making their recommendations, the Assessment Panel may take the following into consideration:
- The total funding available for the STEM Equity and Access Program 2026 round 2
- The assessment criteria outlined in the Guidelines – STEM Equity & Access Program 2026 - round 2
- The requested amount against the scope of the Activity i.e., could the applicant effectively deliver the Activity with less funding? Advice may be sought from applicants to understand the potential impact if a decision was made to award less funding than requested.
- Whether the requested funding amount is too large compared to the Activity.
- Whether a reduction could pose significant risks to the success of the Activity.
- Whether the applicant has sufficient or additional resources or avenues available to raise capital other than this grant that could assist with the success of their Activity.
- Whether a decrease of funding will impact achieving the overall aim of the STEM Equity and Access Program.
The Assessment Panel may seek advice from an external probity advisor if required.
Anticipated date for funding deed execution with successful applicants is 062026