SensUs High Schools
Competition 2026

To participate in the SensUs High Schools Competition 2026, we kindly ask you to fill in the application form below. All students and teachers have to sign up individually. The application form will open on Wednesday, October 1st 2025. The deadline for registration is Friday, January 16th 2026.

In addition to the Student Competition, SensUs organizes the High Schools project. This project aims to motivate young talent for technology and encourage high school students to design their own biosensors. Each year, the project focuses on the corresponding theme of the SensUs Student Competition.

SensUs challenges high school students to develop a biosensor concept. This is done by providing them with an elaborate assignment that the students will work on from January until June. To engage the students even more in the project, they will visit the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) three times. The first time being a Kick-Off in February to give the students a head-start with their project and provide them with valuable information regarding the theme. Additionally, an experiment is set up to give the students a more practical insight into the subject, which is conducted in the laboratories at the TU/e. At the beginning of June, all high school students will present their final biosensor concepts and the winner will be graded on a final pitch, presentation, and the concept itself. This is taking the user and clinical relevance into account. The winning team is invited to present their developments at the end of August at the TU/e during the SensUs Event with a pitch, next to more than 150 students in the international Student Competition!

The pilot of the High School project was in 2016. Together with the Eindhoven School of Education (ESoE), the concept for the SensUs High Schools project was made. There were three participating groups from one high school. One of these groups even won the OMO-prize, which is the prize for the best ‘profielwerkstuk’ of the Dutch province North-Brabant.

In 2026, the SensUs High Schools competition will plan to go international! Schools outside the Netherlands can attend the Kick-Off online. An alternative experiment will also be proposed later in the year which can be done in the students' own school laboratory in their home country. Finally, the competition day will also be arranged in a hybrid format. Schools abroad who are able to come to Eindhoven on any of the days are welcome to do to so! However, as each day of the competition is separate and the final competition is only a day long, we encourage first giving thought on whether the logistics are feasible. We are also open to suggestions about this new pilot project of SensUs High Schools!

To participate in the SensUs High Schools project, the following guidelines apply:

• The level of the project is most suitable for 4/5/6 VWO (15-18 years old).
• Advised are group sizes from 1-4, so individual participation is also possible.
• Be willing to put effort into an extracurricular project, from February until July.
• (For students near Eindhoven) : Be able to visit the Eindhoven University of Technology during the Kick-Off, Experiment day and Competition day
• (For students near Eindhoven) : Be available at the end of August to attend the SensUs Event. 
• The project can be combined with “profielwerkstuk (pws)”, O&O, or other courses in the students curriculum.
• Participation in the competition is free; however, the costs for traveling to Eindhoven and parking are at the school's or student's expense.

Below the teacher manual and student manual for the assignment can be found once the High Schools Competition has started.

SensUs attaches great importance to stimulating young students for technical projects such as the High Schools project and thereby creating awareness for biosensors. By participating, high school students can experience what a technical study entails.

For more information or registration, please send a mail to [email protected]