Welcome to the competition application portal.

Applications for the competition close 12pm BST Monday 13 April 2026 .

Before applying checklist:

• Please ensure you read the Rules of Competition, which contain important information about all aspects of the competition.
  
  
• If you are new to the competition, you will need to create an account in the sign up section on the right-hand side.
  
  
• During the open and close dates of the application process, you can save and continue your application at any point.
  
  
• All applicants will be made aware of their outcome in the competition in June, those shortlisted as a finalist will need to be available for the full day on 21 July for the pitch final and able to travel to the Royal Society of Chemistry's Burlington House office in London, UK.

We particularly welcome applications those in start-ups, spin-outs and academic institutions who are women, from black and minoritised ethnic backgrounds, who identify as LGBTQ+ and/or belong to any other underrepresented groups. 

Criteria for entering:

• Applications must be from academic entrepreneurs, spin-outs, or small companies.
  
  
• Applicants from small companies must have less than 20 employees and have raised less than £1 million in equity funding, excluding grant funding.
  
  
• Technologies/ideas must have a strong chemistry component and be relevant to the competition categories:
   
  • Enabling Technologies
  • Energy
  • Environment
  • Health
    
    
• Applicants must be based in the UK.
  
  
• We advise that the technology you enter has some form of Intellectual Property protection.
  
  
• Applicants are required to be available for the pitch final on 21 July if shortlisted, and they must make themselves available for a short pitch run-through with the RSC in the month prior to judging. We will be in contact to book this, if you are selected for the final.
  
  
• We strongly encourage all finalists to attend our online Entrepreneurship Day on 25 June 1-4PM. Further details will be made available to finalists after they are selected.

Our prizes

This year, the Royal Society of Chemistry will showcase and support even more of the ground-breaking technologies that throw their hats into the ring. Our finalists now have their chance to take home the following prizes from our £50,000 prize pot:

• Top prize per category: £10,000
  
  
• Runner-up prize per category: £2,000
  
  
• Change Makers Spotlight Prize: £2,000

The Change Makers Spotlight Prize will be awarded to a spin-out or start-up that can prove their technology could have significant impact in one of our two 2026 challenge areas: sustainable polymers-in-liquid formulations or innovation in PFAS.

If you would like to enter yourself for this Spotlight Prize, you will be asked to include a short statement on your application, which highlights how your technology could make a significant difference in either of these two missions. Companies that enter themselves for the Spotlight Prize will be assessed for eligibility by the Royal Society of Chemistry’s internal experts and then subject to the same judging process as the other prizes.

A win in this category does not preclude you from taking home a top prize or runner-up prize. You can be considered for this spotlight prize regardless of the main Emerging Technologies Competition category that you enter. On the pitch final day, your application will be scored as normal by the judges, and the top scoring prize that has been selected as eligible for this category will take home the Spotlight Prize.

If you have any questions regarding your application or the process, please contact us.

Best of luck,

Royal Society of Chemistry - Emerging Technologies Competition Team.