INSPIRE Awards Online Nominations 2026, Nominate students’ Ideas and Innovations

INSPIRE Awards Online Nominations 2026 of students process would be started every year on its official website, https://www.inspireawards-dst.gov.in by the DST, Government of India.

Schools who have registered on this web portal can nominate their student’s Ideas and Innovations on this web portal as per the schedule under MANAK INSPIRE Awards Scheme.

For this online nominations of students, every school should complete the One time registration process at Online E-MIAS System at INSPIRE Awards web portal, www.inspireawards-dst.gov.in.

The INSPIRE (Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research) Awards are a prestigious recognition program aimed at encouraging young students in India to pursue scientific research and innovation.

These awards serve as a platform to nurture talent and promote a culture of innovation among the youth. In 2026, the INSPIRE Awards have embraced the digital era with online nominations, making it more accessible to participants across the country.

INSPIRE Awards 2026

The INSPIRE Awards 2026 carry the theme of “Innovate for a Sustainable Future.” The objectives of these awards are to identify and reward young talents who exhibit exceptional creativity, problem-solving skills, and scientific acumen.

Students between the ages of 10 and 15 years, studying in recognized schools across India, are eligible to participate in the awards competition at district, state and national level.

INSPIRE Awards Online Nominations 2026

Innovation has always been the driving force behind progress and societal development. Recognizing the importance of nurturing young talents and fostering a culture of scientific curiosity, the INSPIRE Awards Online Nominations 2026 provides a unique platform for students to showcase their innovative ideas and projects.

This prestigious program aims to celebrate excellence, inspire creativity, and empower the next generation of innovators.

INSPIRE Awards Student Online Nominations 2026

The INSPIRE Awards Student Online Nominations 2026 is a nationwide initiative that seeks to discover and honor exceptional students who have demonstrated exemplary skills in scientific research and innovation.

By encouraging originality, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities, this program aims to unlock the potential within each student and propel them towards a promising future.

With a focus on science and technology, the INSPIRE Awards Student Nominations 2026 provides a platform for students to transform their ideas into reality and contribute to the growth of their communities.

INSPIRE Awards Online Nominations 2026: Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for the INSPIRE Awards Online Nominations 2026, students must meet the following criteria:

1. Age: The program is open to students studying in recognized schools from 6th to 10th grade.
2. Citizenship: Only Indian citizens are eligible to participate.
3. Project Requirements: Students must submit innovative science projects that are feasible, original, and have the potential to address real-world problems.
4. Mentorship: Each student must have a mentor who can guide and support them throughout the project.

INSPIRE Awards Online Nominations 2026: The Nomination Process

The nomination process for the INSPIRE Awards Online Nominations 2026 is designed to be simple and accessible. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to participate:

Step 1: Registration

1. Visit the official INSPIRE Awards website (insert link here) and click on the registration link.
2. Fill out the online registration form with the required details, including personal information, school details, and mentor information.
3. Verify your email address to complete the registration process.

Step 2: Project Submission

1. Once registered, log in to your account on the INSPIRE Awards portal.
2. Fill out the project submission form, providing a detailed description of your project, its objectives, methodology, and potential impact.
3. Upload any supporting documents, images, or videos that showcase your project’s progress and outcomes.

Step 3: Evaluation

1. After the submission deadline, a panel of experts will evaluate the projects based on criteria such as originality, scientific content, feasibility, and societal relevance.
2. Shortlisted candidates will be notified and invited for the next stage of the evaluation process.

Step 4: Exhibition and Award Ceremony

1. The shortlisted candidates will be invited to present their projects at the INSPIRE Awards Exhibition and Award Ceremony.
2. The event provides an opportunity to interact with other participants, experts, and industry professionals.
3. The final winners will be announced during the award ceremony, where their remarkable achievements will be celebrated.

Inspire Awards Online Nominations of Student Ideas and Innovations

After completion of school registration, schools should complete the INSPIRE Awards Online nominations of students’ ideas and innovations.

The INSPIRE Awards – MANAK is looking for Science and Technology based ideas and innovations from millions of school students (class 6th to 10th) across the country.

• The registered schools can nominate 5 best ideas from their schools.
• Submission of project synopsis (in word or PDF format) has now being made mandatory along with submission of online nominations.

Instructions

• For this, online nominations through E-Management of INSPIRE Award Scheme (E-MIAS) system would become open to all the schools.
• Concerned State Nodal Officers may kindly be directed to appraise the school suitably so that they can nominate their students.
• The nominations for the annual INSPIRE Awards – MANAK are now open and we urge you to sensitize the students in your school and mobilize nominations in large numbers.
• This is an ideal time for organizing idea competition amongst students of class 6th to 10th and age between 10 – 15 years, such that they get suitable time to think and deliver the most innovative idea to you.
• A continued focus on innovations by school students is equally important, mainly because Science and Technology based ideas and innovations can play a major role in getting people out of this crisis and make country self-reliant (Aatma Nirbhar).
• Therefore, DST should make the best use of this time by developing an inclination amongst our students towards innovative thinking and attempt to maximize ideas generation from them!

INSPIRE Scheme

The Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research, INSPIRE scheme is one of the flagship programme of Department of Science & Technology (DST), Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India.

INSPIRE Awards – MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspirations and Knowledge), is being executed by DST with National Innovation Foundation – India (NIF), an autonomous body of DST, which aims to motivate students to become future innovators and critical thinkers.

INSPIRE Awards Programme

Inspire is a National level programme to strengthen the roots of our traditional and technological development. The major aims of Innovations in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) programme are…

• Attract intelligent students towards sciences
• Identifying intelligent students and encourage them to study science from an early age
• Develop complex human resources to promote scientific, technological development and research
• Inspire is a competitive examination.
• It is an innovative programme to make the younger generation learn science interestingly.
• Many students will be selected under this programme.
• Two students from each high school (One student from 6 – 8 classes and one from 9 – 10 classes) and one student from each upper primary school are selected for this award.
• Each selected student is awarded with Rs. 10,000/-.
• One should utilize 50% of the amount for making project or model remaining for display at district level Inspire programme.
• Selected students will be sent to State level as well as the National level. Participate in the Inspire programme – Develop our country.

Inspire Awards MANAK Nominations: 

The nominations from schools will be received through District & State Authorities on existing E-MIAS-Management of INSPIRE Award Scheme portal at National Authority i.e. Department of Science & Technology (DST).

A synopsis of the Project that the student would prepare will be annexed with the nomination proposal. The selection criteria adopted would be based on the innovation / creativeness / novelty of the Project that the student proposes to undertake as given in the Project synopsis submitted.

A window on E-MIAS platform will be given to National Innovation Foundation (NIF) to receive and shortlist nominations.

NIF will shortlist top 1 lakh projects for an INSPIRE Award of Rs.5,000/- per student and participation at District Level Competition. The INSPIRE Award of Rs. 5000/- would be transferred to the bank account of the student through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).

District Level Exhibition & Project Competition (DLEPC): The DLEPC will be held at the District level which will be organized by the District/State Authorities.

NIF will associate as Jury to shortlist 10% (around 10,000) projects. The shortlisted 10% of students will further participate at State level Competition.

State Level Exhibition & Project Competition (SLEPC): The SLEPC will be held at State level which will be organized preferably at State Headquarters by the District/State Authorities wherein NIF/DST will associate as Jury members to shortlist 10% (around 1,000) Projects/Models for participation at National Level.

Development of Prototype Models: The 10% (1000) Models/Projects shortlisted from the SLEPC will be given Rs. 20,000/- each for development of Prototype Model. NIF will coordinate with NITs, IITs, and IISERs for holding of workshops and impart training to assist the students for development of prototype models. Rs. 20,000/- would be transferred to the bank account of the student through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).

National Level Exhibition & Project Competition (NLEPC): 1000 Prototype Models/Projects will participate at the Annual National Level Competition to be organized by DST. Jury members from DST, NIF, and TIF AC (for Patent) will associate in the jury process and shortlist the top 60 Models/Projects for National Awards and future ideation.

Annual Festival of Innovation: NIF will coordinate for the participation of the selected 60 Models/ Projects at the Annual Festival of innovation in Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Product Development: NIF will examine the feasibility of Product/Process development and to link the top 60 ideas with other schemes of DST for which NIF will prepare a separate proposal.

Patent: TIF AC will explore the possibility of filing the patents of shortlisted projects/models from the NLEPC.

All other guidelines/norms relating to DLEPCs, SLEPCs, and NLEPC, etc. shall remain the same as was in INSPIRE Awards Scheme.

What is an Idea Competition?

The Idea competition can be organized by assembling students and enabling them to think of an idea/ innovation related to: machine or a gadget, which is not available but the students desires to have such a machine or a gadget Improvement required in any existing/available machine or gadget, so that it becomes multi-functional, improves efficiency or output, reduces drudgery etc.

• An idea to solve a local technological problem, which a student may be seeing everyday around him/ her.
• After the students have thought of idea(s), they may note them down on a piece of paper and submit it to the Principal/ Headmaster/ Teacher.
• The submitted ideas may be reviewed at the school level and shortlisted ones submitted for INSPIRE AWARDS-MANAK as per the process described above.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the process of idea/ innovation submission?

The principal/ headmaster of the school will call for submission of ideas in the form of synopsis from the students of the designated classes and age groups. For this purpose, an Idea Competition can also be conducted in Schools.

Is there any registration fee for the INSPIRE Awards Online Nominations 2023?

No, there is no registration fee. Participation in the program is completely free of charge.

Who can participate in the INSPIRE Awards Online Nominations 2023?

Students studying in recognized schools from 6th to 10th grade and holding Indian citizenship are eligible to participate.

What are the benefits of participating in the INSPIRE Award Nominations 2023?

Participating in the INSPIRE Awards provides an excellent opportunity to showcase your talents, gain recognition, network with professionals, and explore new avenues for personal and academic growth.

How will the winners be selected?

The winners will be selected through a rigorous evaluation process by a panel of experts in the respective fields.

What are the key evaluation criteria for the projects?

The projects will be evaluated based on their originality, scientific content, feasibility, and potential societal impact.

Can I submit a team project for the INSPIRE Awards Online Nominations 2026?

Yes, team projects with a maximum of five members are allowed. Each team must have a designated mentor.

How will the Principal/ Headmaster submit the nominations?

All nominations (2-3 most innovative ideas from each school) can be submitted online by the Headmaster/Principal through E-MIAS (E-Management of INSPIRE Award Scheme) portal on www.inspireawards-dst.gov.in. New schools may also register themselves on this portal.

Registration for all eligible school required every year?

No. School should be registered only once on the E-MIAS portal after that they will be able to nominate their students every year. New schools may also register themselves on this portal.

How new school can registered themselves on E-MIAS Portal?

Kindly follow the below mentioned guideline for the new registration. Go to website – http://www.inspireawards-dst.gov.in. Click on School Authority and do ONE TIME Registration. After Registration you will get Application Number and when District Authority will approve, you will get User Id and Password. Now go to School Authority and Login.

What kind of submissions are invited?

Original and creative technological ideas/innovations of students that solve any daily problem, be it household or for farmers, porters, labourers, society or the like. Children may be urged to look around for common problems and come up with solutions on their own.

Are any photos, videos, sketches of the idea/ innovation required?

Yes, if available. These would help the reviewers to properly understand and evaluate the submission. Things to be taken care of while nominating student ideas. All fields have to be filled properly and carefully on the E-MIAS portal. The personal and bank account details of the student (including IFSC code and account number) should be rechecked.

What kinds of submissions are not encouraged?

As the aim of this scheme is to promote original and innovative thinking among school students, project ideas from textbooks, Do-It-Yourselves books/ Websites, other student competitions, etc. should NOT to be submitted. Projects simply demonstrating Physics, Chemistry, Biology or Mathematics concepts/ theories are also NOT to be submitted. Common ideas/projects like hydel power projects, rain water harvesting, water level indicator, vermi compost/vermin wash, letter box alarm, using turbines to generate energy, electricity generation through waste batteries/dung/transport/wave or earthquake alarms, etc. may also be NOT submitted.

SCHOOL Level Students Nomination

Online nomination: After registration, the guiding teacher and the student should prepare the write up indicating the theme of the project/ exhibit, aims, and objective of the exhibit, working principle, conceptual framework, functional value. The write up may be shared with other science teachers, subject experts available in neighborhood areas.

The idea is to have wider consultation for grooming the ideas and improving it. The write up may be made DTP in the English language in the word or pdf form and may be uploaded in the website of Inspire awards.

Important Instructions:

• One School can Submit 5 Ideas/ Innovation of Students
• One Student can submit One Idea Only
• Submission of same idea by multiple students of same school will automatically leas to rejection of all entries of that school
• please ensure that the student has their own bank account.
• Did you conducted idea competition in your school while selecting the student’s ideas/innovations. If not to know about organising an idea competition,

General Instructions

1. Please keep ready all relevant documents.
   • Student Scanned Photograph
   • Idea/innovation Synopsis Document
2. Instructions for Photo Scanning
   • Scan your passport size photograph from printed passport size photo.
   • While scanning your photograph do not leave any space around the photo.
   • Save them Images as JPG/JPEG/PNG/GIF/BMP files with size should be not more than 2 MB.
   • Images should be properly cropped.
3. Instructions for uploading Idea/Innovation synopsis document.
   • File type should be in PDF/JPG/JPEG and Word format
   • File size should be not more than 2 MB.
4. fields are marked with (*), which means these field are to be filled in mandatorily.

Title and project synopsis (brief write up)

In the title of the project, a suitable title describing the project should be given (for example “A device to climb Areca nut trees”, “An assistive walking aid for the elderly”, etc.) and NOT a broad theme like Agriculture, Swatcha Bharat, Swastha Bharat, Digital India, etc.

In the summary of the project, the following points need to be included – what is the project about, what problem it addresses, and what the advantage is. Please see the example below

Title of the Project: Travelling bag with folding seats

Project Summary: Many a times travellers have to stand while waiting for a bus or train at the bus/train station as the number of seats available are few. The student has developed a travelling bag where a folding seat has been incorporated.

This can be unfolded and used for sitting while waiting for the bus/train thereby eliminating the discomfort while standing for long time. It will be especially useful for ladies and elderly.

School to login and nominate student’s ideas/ innovations:

• HOME PAGE of INSPIRE Awards
• School Authority Web Page
• School Authority Welcome Web Page
• Nomination Form Web Page
• Bank Account Form Web Page
• Uploading Web Page- Student photograph, Idea/ Innovation Photo and Video
• List of nominated students Web Page
• authorized person Web Page
• Application Status Web Page
• Acknowledgement generate Web Page

Steps to submit INSPIRE Awards Online Nominations of Student’s Ideas and Innovations

Step 1 – HOME PAGE:

• Open the web page: http://www.inspireawards-dst.gov.in/
• Click on the School Authority tab to login and then School Authority Login web page will appear.
• In this, enter your username and password and Click on Login.

Step 2 – School Authority Web Page:

• School Authority Welcome‘ Web Page will appear. There are four main sections in this page
• Students Nomination Section
• Awards Section
• Miscellaneous
• Update Bank Details

Step 3 – Students Nomination Form:

Now, Click ‘Students nomination‘ tab to start the nomination process of students Enter the required details. In case student does not has aadhar number leave it blank. After entering all the required details please click on Nominate Student tab.

Step 4 – Particulars of the Students:

The ‘List of nominated students‘ will appear in red color in this web page and Click + button sign for adding other details like Gender, Date of Birth, contact details, Email, Category, etc in the ‘Particulars of the Students‘ web page.

Now, Click on ‘Broad theme‘ tab, in the drop down menu some theme names available for selection. If the name of your project theme is not available in the list. Then choose others option from the dropdown list. Once you select the others option a text box will appear. please enter the broad theme of your project.

• In the title of the proposed project enter suitable title describing of the project.
• Now please write the write up of the project and Upload the Project Synopsis in defined size and format
• Click on save and Next.

Step 5 – Bank Account details:

then Bank Account details web page will appear. Enter the details of bank account of nominated student and please verify the bank details of student from pass book.

• Now click the save button.

Step 6 – Uploading:

• a. Upload student photograph: Please upload student photograph and click on continue to next tab.
• b. Upload Project Synopsis: Select Project Synopsis Language and Upload Project Synopsis and Click on Upload button.
• c. Upload Idea/ Innovation Photo
• d. Upload Idea / Innovation Video
• Click on Save and Continue button

Step 7 – List of nominated students:

Then List of nominated students web page will appear. The current row after updation of documents have turned green color. Similarly follow the same process for the next student. All the rows in the application will be green once we have submitted students information. If you find that any row is left red please update the students details by click on + Sign.

• Now click the save and Continue button.

Step 8. authorized person:

Now Enter the details of authorized person and save.

Step 9 – application status:

• This page will show application status like “Student nomination process has been completed successfully. Forward the application to District Authority (DA) for its approval.
• You can press View and Edit still make changes to student details Otherwise click forward application.

Step 10 – Acknowledgement:

• Now you can generate Acknowledgement.
• Your application has been submitted successfully and its forwarded to DA for approval.
• Nomination Checking: For checking Whether the nomination is approved by DA or not.
• Open the Home Page and click on Search Box.
• Enter your details and you will get the result
• Whether your nomiatioin/application is approve or pending approval by DA or not

For this year: Online nominations through E-Management of INSPIRE Award Scheme (E-MIAS) system would become open to all the schools. Concerned State Nodal Officers may kindly be directed to appraise the school suitably so that they can nominate their students. So, registration of schools and online nominations’ for Inspire awards which commenced at the website.

Conclusion

The INSPIRE Awards Student Nominations 2026 offers a remarkable platform for students to unleash their creativity, curiosity, and problem-solving skills. By encouraging scientific thinking and innovation, this initiative plays a crucial role in shaping the future of our society.

If you have a passion for science, an innovative idea, and a desire to make a difference, don’t miss this incredible opportunity to participate in the INSPIRE Awards Online Nominations 2026. Let your brilliance shine and inspire others to follow in your footsteps.