Riyadh, 9 Rajab 1447 AH (29 December 2025)

The King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba), in partnership with the Ministry of Education, today announced that 200 students from among the participants in the central-exhibition stage have qualified to compete in the Ibda' Science and Engineering Fair, the final stage of the National Olympiad for Scientific Creativity "Ibda' 2026."

The Ibda' Science and Engineering Fair is scheduled to be held in Riyadh from 25 to 29 January 2026 at the Princess Nouf bint Abdulrahman International Conference Center, where the qualified students will compete for the chance to represent the Kingdom at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF 2026), alongside a number of other international scientific competitions.

Some 500 middle- and high-school students from across the Kingdom's regions had presented their scientific projects before judging panels at the central exhibitions, held in four main cities from 9 to 22 December, as part of the Olympiad's fourth stage, organized annually by Mawhiba in strategic partnership with the Ministry of Education.

The central exhibitions were preceded by the educational-district exhibition stage, in which thousands of students presented their scientific projects before specialized judging panels across 16 educational districts. This stage helped sharpen students' research skills, prepare them to compete at more advanced levels, and nominate outstanding projects for the central exhibitions, as part of a progressive path ensuring project quality and raising the level of scientific competition among gifted students.

The National Olympiad for Scientific Creativity is a competitive scientific contest based on individual scientific projects, evaluated according to precise scientific criteria by a panel of academics and specialists, aimed at nominating outstanding projects for higher competitive stages, chief among them international participation.

The "Ibda'" Olympiad aims to discover and nurture gifted male and female students in scientific fields, develop their research skills, and enable them to represent the Kingdom in international scientific forums, most notably the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in the United States.

"Ibda'" goes through a series of consecutive organizational stages spanning nine months, starting with online registration, followed by training and introductory lectures for participants and supervisors, then the educational-district exhibitions, electronic judging, the central exhibitions, the final Ibda' fair stage, and finally the international qualification program for external participation.

These stages reflect the integrated efforts of Mawhiba and the Ministry of Education in discovering and empowering gifted students, as part of a comprehensive national system supporting Saudi Vision 2030's goals and helping build an innovative generation capable of supporting the knowledge economy and the Kingdom's scientific future.

This year's edition of the "Ibda' 2026" Olympiad set an unprecedented record, with more than 357,000 students registering from educational departments across the Kingdom, an indicator reflecting the widening national base of talent and innovation.