NEI Hosting ‘Eye on the Future’ Teen Video Contest

The National Eye Institute (NEI) is currently accepting submissions for its “Eye on the Future” Teen Video Contest. The campaign is designed to encourage high school students from all backgrounds to explore science, with extra points for submissions related to eye health.

High school students are encouraged to submit videos, either by themselves or in groups up to three people, on one of the following topics:

• Science in your world: The impact of science is everywhere, from brushing your teeth in the morning to the smartphone you plug in before you go to bed or the antibiotics you take when you’re sick. Teach us about a discovery that impacts your life or the ways you see science currently making a difference in it.
• Science in action: Science is discovery in action! A scientist is not a person who memorizes facts in a science textbook. Rather, a scientist is someone who asks questions about the world and tests those questions through controlled experiments. And the best part is that research doesn’t need to be done in a lab. Show us some science in action by demonstrating an experiment.
• Science in your future: The future is in your hands. Science will play an important role in finding solutions to the big challenges we all face. Science has already helped us in so many ways, from preventing disease to improving our daily life. Describe how science will affect the future or teach us about the way a current discovery will impact our future.

National Institute of Health (NIH) judges will review all submissions to make sure they follow contest rules. They will then score each video using the following guidelines:

• Scientific Context and Accuracy: The submission seeks to understand a scientific question and connect content to existing scientific knowledge.
• Relevance: The submission clearly communicates why the topic is important and relevant to the category it is submitted in.
• Engagement: The submission has a clear narrative, has a structure that is easy to follow, grabs the audiences’ attention in a unique way, and maintains enthusiasm throughout the video.
• Creativity: The submission approaches a problem in an innovative way, whether by proposing a unique solution or providing an insightful analysis and presenting information in an original way that is unique to the submitter.

Participants will also be awarded an extra two points if their submissions are related to eye health.

The winning entry from each category will get $2,000 cash and a free trip for the entrant and a parent or guardian to visit the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland, for a day of science, networking, and fun.

Here are the rules for submissions:

• Submissions must come from students in grades 9–12, who are enrolled in a high school in the United States or its territories.

• Videos must be between 30 seconds and three minutes long (excluding credits).
• You can work on your own or team up with a couple of friends. If you’re working in a group, include up to three people and pick one person to be your group leader.
• Be sure to submit a signed video release (PDF, 138KB) and registration form (for an individual submission [PDF, 1.2MB] or a group submission [PDF, 1.2MB]) with your video.

Submissions are open until April 20, 2025, and more information can be found here.