Bi-Annual KDS Contest Scholarship

The Kid at School Bi-Annual Contest Scholarship was established in 2015 to help support and inspire students to pursue further education in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), as well as economics and business. One student will be chosen from the applicant pool and will be awarded based on the strength of their written essay. The selected student will receive 1,500 USD to help cover education-related expenses.

The scholarship will be awarded to the qualified candidate who writes the most compelling essay on one of the prompts below.

  • Blockchain
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality

Choose an industry or sector where the application of the technology of your choice might be uncommon, in your opinion, and describe which existing problems will be solved as a result.

How to Apply

To be considered for the scholarship award, you must complete the following steps

  • Send an email to email with “KDS Scholarship Award: Your Name” in the subject field.
  • In your submission email, write a short paragraph or two about yourself and why you chose the topic.
  • Attach your essay as a PDF or Microsoft Word document to the email. The length of the essay should be a minimum of 1200 words (there is no maximum word limit) and include an introduction and conclusion. The essay should be original text and not published anywhere.
  • In your submission email you must also provide the following information: your full name (and parent or guardian name if you are under 18), date of birth, college or university you are attending or plan to attend, your average GPA, expected year of graduation, your field of study, phone number, email address, copy of your school ID (if available) or other proof of attendance/acceptance from a college or university in the United States.
Essay Requirements

The essay should include an introduction, main body, and conclusion.

The introduction should give a general idea of what will be described further. There is no need to provide detailed information on the way the chosen technology works.

The main body should be dedicated to defining the industry’s existing challenges first, then introducing solutions to the problems based on the chosen technology (would be nice to describe at least 3 industry’s challenges and 3 applications of a chosen technology as a solution respectively). Challenges should be backed up by statistics and real facts, not just personal thoughts and experience. Examples of already existing applications would be appreciated. Giving links to credible sources, providing useful statistics in the form of graphs and tables is welcomed.

The conclusion on a chosen technology’s potential summarizes the main points of the essay and formulates the final thought or solution.

The essay needs to be logically structured and can be broken down into sections. The length of the essay should be a minimum of 1200 words.

Deadlines

The deadlines to apply are December 15th and May 15th each year.

The winner will be selected and announced within 31 calendar days after the deadline and will be notified by email. A check for $1,500.00 will be mailed to the winner’s residency.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible to apply, you must meet the following criteria:

  • You are a citizen or a permanent resident of the United States;
  • At the date of the award, you must be enrolled (or accepted with plans to attend) in a college or university in the United States;
  • Your field of study is related to science, technology, engineering, math (STEM), economics, or business.

Additional Details:

  • This is a non-needs based scholarship;
  • There is no application fee for this scholarship;
  • One submission per applicant only: multiple submissions will be disregarded;
  • Employees of KDS or any of their immediate family members are not eligible to participate;
  • The prize will be paid out in US dollars;
  • The winner will be solely responsible for any federal, state or local taxes.