If your teenager already does maths competitions, science fairs or olympiads, you know the pattern. Hard problems. Real deadlines. A result that means something to a university. Here is what ambitious students in Lisbon compete in, and where an engineering competition fits.

Stand out in university applications

Top universities look for more than grades. FIRST® programmes are recognised by top universities worldwide, FIRST® alumni major in STEM at 80% versus 32% of their peers, and over $80 million in college scholarships is available to participants. MIT, Stanford and other top universities cite competitions and projects in admissions. 1 in 5 MIT undergraduates did FIRST®, by MIT admissions' own estimate. More than 150 universities and companies offer FIRST® scholarships, for study in the USA. And in a 10-year US study, 83% of FIRST® alumni chose a STEM major, against 61% of similar classmates.

Top universities around the world back FIRST® directly:

  • MIT, Yale, RPI and Olin are Platinum FIRST® scholarship providers, each giving 500,000 USD or more. MIT Admissions names FIRST® Robotics among the robotics programmes it recommends.
  • Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is a main partner of FTC Benelux, our league, and hosts the FTC University Campus Day on its campus: more than 600 students at the last edition.
  • The University of Cambridge hosted the FTC UK National Championship in 2023 and 2024.
  • Macquarie University in Sydney gives FTC students up to 10 bonus points on the ATAR, Australia's university entry rank, for eight degrees.
  • McMaster and Waterloo in Canada each offer FIRST® scholarships of 15,000 Canadian dollars.
  • Technion, Israel's top technology university, is a founding partner of FIRST® Israel.

Applying through the University of California system or UCAS? An engineering competition gives a student something concrete to write about: a hard problem, a team, a result. The University of California application has its own place for awards and extracurricular activities. UCAS asks what you have done outside formal education to prepare.

Maths

The biggest single interest among families here. We measured it: searches for "international mathematics competition" run to 10,000 to 100,000 a month in Portugal, 1,000 to 10,000 in Lisbon and 100 to 1,000 in Oeiras alone.

  • International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). The top of the ladder for school mathematicians. National olympiads feed into it.
  • UKMT challenges. The UK Mathematics Trust's challenges. St. Julian's School in Carcavelos enters its students.
  • AMC 10 and AMC 12. The American Mathematics Competitions, common in American and IB schools.
  • Math Kangaroo. Run worldwide; its Portuguese edition, Canguru Matemático, runs through Portuguese schools.
  • Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) olympiads. Familiar to many Indian families, with maths, science and computing papers.

Science and research

  • EU Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS). Europe's showcase for student research. Portugal's entrants come through the national Jovens Cientistas contest.
  • Regeneron ISEF. The world's largest international pre-college science competition.
  • NASA Space Apps Challenge. A global hackathon on NASA's open data, held on 14 and 15 November 2026 in more than 450 cities and online.

Beyond one subject

  • World Scholar's Cup. A team academic tournament popular in international schools.
  • Summer and pre-college programmes. Short, intense, often abroad.

Engineering: FIRST® Tech Challenge

Most of the list above tests what a student knows. The FIRST® Tech Challenge tests what a team can build. Students design, machine, wire and program a robot, then compete with it against teams from across Europe.

Four robots on the DECODE field at the Lisbon Scrimmage, Thunderstrike's 33535 in front
Four robots on the field at the Lisbon Scrimmage, ours in front. Photo: Mayumi Miazaki

It is a season, not a weekend. We compete from autumn to summer, and our members commit at least 8 hours every week.

Thunderstrike's robot on a DECODE practice field in the team's lab
Our robot on the practice field in the team lab.

Our record, as Portugal's first FTC team:

  • 1st place, FTC Benelux Qualifier #5 (31 January 2026), with a Design Award.
  • 6th place at the FTC Benelux Championship (7 February 2026), with the Design Award 1st place.
  • Advancement to the European Premier Event (June 2026).
  • Organisers of Portugal's first FTC event, the Lisbon Scrimmage, with 12 teams, 10 of them international.
Thunderstrike members in team shirts at the FIRST® Tech Challenge and STEAM Up backdrop
Thunderstrike at an FTC Benelux qualifier in The Hague.

Who joins

Students aged 14 to 17 who have already built something real: code, games, electronics, a machine. No FTC or FIRST® experience needed. We take them to the next level.

If that is your teenager, join Team Thunderstrike.