Tech
Galaxy
Award
tga.org
Who can
apply.
TGA convenes 12 teams per cohort, by competitive selection. We prioritize teams that bring intellectual range — academically strong, but also diverse in temperament, background, and lived experience.
- Eligible applicants: Schools · learning centers · independent teams
- Eligibility: Secondary school & university students
- Team size: Exactly 8 students per team
- Adult lead: 1 teacher / coach / coordinator
- Language: English working proficiency
- Countries: All — visas supported with documentation
- Prior experience: Not required
Application
timeline.
A staged process from expression of interest through final confirmation. The application window opens each September and closes in October.
Stage 1 · Early September
Expression of interest
A short form from the lead teacher or coordinator. Tells us who you are and why your team is applying.
Stage 2 · Mid September
Team application
Full team roster, a 500-word team statement, and one written response to a TGA prompt.
Stage 3 · Late September
Live conversation
A 30-minute video call between the TGA admissions committee and the lead teacher (optionally with two students).
Stage 4 · Early October
Cohort offers
12 teams confirmed. Two named alternates held in case of withdrawal.
Stage 5 · Mid October
Final confirmation
Teams confirm participation, settle the program fee, and receive a structured pre-reading pack.
Stage 6 · Late October & beyond
Logistics & cohort prep
Visa support, accommodation booking, and pre-cohort mentoring leading up to the program week in Singapore.
Fees
& inclusions.
TGA's program fee covers all on-site costs in Singapore. Teams are responsible for international travel and visas; we provide invitation letters and documentation as needed.
Need-based bursaries are available each cohort. We do not publish a fixed bursary cap — we read every request, and we cover up to the full program fee for accepted teams from under-resourced contexts.
Ask about bursariesIncluded in the program fee
- Seven days of programming ·
- Faculty mentorship from NUS, NTU, HKU, Cambridge ·
- All field-trip transport in Singapore ·
- Cohort accommodation (twin/triple rooms) ·
- Three meals daily during cohort week ·
- All materials, datasets, and prototyping supplies ·
- TGA certificate of participation (per student) ·
- TGA-CERT verifiable ID for every participant ·
Not included
- International airfare to / from Singapore ·
- Travel insurance ·
- Visa fees ·
Documents we will actually ask for.
Do not attach a passport scan to the first email. Do not invent a portfolio. The staged list below is the 2026 set. If we need something else, we will name it in writing.
Stage 1 — Expression of interest
A short form: adult lead name and role, school or independent-team status, country, approximate student year-band, a paragraph on why TGA rather than a science fair or a hackathon, and a bursary flag (yes/no, no documents yet). This is five minutes if you already know your team exists.
Stage 2 — Team application
Roster of eight (legal names as they should appear on a certificate, school year, dietary and access needs at a high level). One 500-word team statement. One written response to the TGA prompt we send with the Stage 2 packet — a short urban dilemma, not a coding test. Optional: a single existing artifact (a poster, a prototype photo, a debate case) if it helps us see how the team already works. Optional is optional. A twelve-page "AI strategy deck" is not an advantage.
Stage 3 — Live conversation
Thirty minutes on video with the adult lead, optionally two students. We are listening for whether the lead will let students speak, and for whether the team has understood that TGA is a viva, not a fair. If you ticked bursary at Stage 1, this is when we tell you which documents to send: typically a school letter on fee context, and a simple statement of household or institutional constraint. We do not want tax returns in a shared inbox. We will specify a channel.
After an offer
Confirmation form. Programme-fee invoice or bursary confirmation. Passport details for invitation letters (collected into a restricted sheet, not into the public CMS). Parental or guardian consent for every minor, in the template we send. Medical and meal form. Media-consent form (photographs may be refused; safeguarding information may not). Role map of eight, due March 2026. Pre-reading notes, due May 2026.
What we never ask for
A fee to "register an interest." A payment to a personal account. SAT or gaokao scores as a gate. An ISEF or iGEM certificate as a prerequisite. A letter of recommendation from a famous professor. Your social-media handles, unless you volunteer them. We will also not ask you to sign a document that says NUS, NTU, HKU, or Cambridge is jointly admitting you. They are not. Scholars from those universities mentor and judge; they do not issue a university place through TGA.
Visas
We issue invitation letters that describe the programme honestly: dates, location, that it is a student intensive, that housing is provided. We do not issue letters that call TGA a degree, a government summit, or an ISEF affiliate. Visa outcomes are not in our gift. Start early. Travel insurance is yours.
2026 timeline, in one place.
The Register page already lists six stages. This is the same year with the intensive and the neighbouring calendar visible, so a teacher can plan. Confirm non-TGA dates with those organisers.
September 2025. Stage 1 opens. Write to info@tga.org with subject "EOI · [Team] · [Country]". We reply within five business days with the form.
Mid-September 2025. Stage 2 packet. Roster, statement, prompt. Deadline is stated on the packet, not "when you can."
Late September 2025. Stage 3 conversations, scheduled across time zones with malice toward none and preference for the lead's afternoon.
Early October 2025. Twelve offers, two alternates. Unsuccessful teams hear from us too. A "no" is about fit for a twelve-team room, not a verdict on a student's science-fair year.
Mid-October 2025. Confirmations and fees. Alternates are notified if a seat opens.
Late October 2025 onward. Visas, rooms, the quiet work of keeping eight students in the same plan. The 2025 iGEM Jamboree in Paris (28–31 October 2025) sits here for teams who also live in that world; it is not our event.
January 2026. Brief, pre-reading, role sheet. See Format.
March 2026. Roles locked.
May 2026. Pre-reading notes due. Regeneron ISEF 2026 is in Phoenix, 9–15 May; do not recycle that poster as your TGA prototype.
6–12 July 2026. Singapore intensive. Defense on day seven. Certificates at close.
November 2026. iGEM Grand Jamboree, Paris Convention Centre, 13–16 November. Again: not us. A TGA alumnus may well be in that hall. They will be there as an iGEM team member, not as a TGA delegate.
Begin your
application.
Stage 1 is a five-minute expression of interest. Write to us with the subject line "EOI · [Your School / Team Name] · [Country]" and we will reply within five business days with the Stage 1 form.
Email info@tga.org Read the FAQ first