April 16th and 17th, 2026 | NC State University, Plant Sciences Building

Register now for the North Carolina Youth Institute!

All high school youth are invited to join us for the 2026 North Carolina Youth Institute, an exceptional opportunity that ignites a passion for solving global hunger through an engaging exploration of agriculture and food systems. The North Carolina Youth Institute is an educational initiative of the World Food Prize Foundation and is designed to spark emerging leaders in developing innovative solutions for our world’s most pressing grand challenges surrounding feeding a growing population.

Dr. Norman Borlaug, the world’s greatest scientist and humanitarian hero developed a hybrid of wheat that critically increased global food production levels and is credited for saving the lives of one billion people. For this accomplishment, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and subsequently founded the World Food Prize to honor those who dedicate their lives to building food resiliency across the world. Dr. Borlaug’s life is a remarkable example of what youth can accomplish through scientific and humanitarian efforts.

The NCYI is hosted by NC State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences,North Carolina Cooperative Extension's4-H Youth Development Program and the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences and is a part of the World Food Prize Foundation'sGlobal Youth Institute. Youth come to campus in the spring of each year to attend the two-day long institute at NC State University and share a research paper and poster they have created among peers and a panel of judges. Hands-on workshops, field trips, keynotes and career development round out the event.

To participate, youth research a global issue and write a three to five page paper under the supervision of a mentor (teacher/parent/Extension agent/NCSU mentor) using these paper challenge guidelines.

Here are the steps to get started:

Step 1: Find a mentor: identify a mentor locally that is excited to support you. This could be a teacher at your school, a 4-H club leader, a coach, FFA advisor, or a parent. You can also join our research mentoring cohort. We will put you in a small group of your peers and assign you a graduate student mentor with shared interests. You can have more than one mentor and each one will help keep you on track and motivated to complete the paper.

• Online Research Mentoring - sometimes the people in our lives who might serve as a mentor are busy and so after a successful pilot last year, we have opened registration for our NCYI online research mentoring program (fall and spring sessions). Aligned to support your Global Challenge Paper we will pair you with a mentor from NCSU and you will be in a cohort with 5-7 other students to discuss your research questions and ideas. We will meet online (via Zoom) about once a month for 4-5 sessions. Register through NCSU's Reporter System by February 10th for the spring mentoring cohort. Dates are: Tuesday, February 10,  6pm Zoom Tuesday, March 10, 6pm Zoom Tuesday, April 7, 6pm Zoom Tuesday, April 14, 6pm Zoom

Step 2: Research and write your paper (using these guidelines) and create a research poster (template coming soon):

Step 3:Register for the spring online research mentoring by February 10th or simply register and you can use your own mentor (parent, teacher, community member, etc). Registration is through NC State's REPORTER system. First create a "Brickyard" account and then you will be able to register. If you have any questions, please email Liz Driscoll at liz_driscoll@ncsu.edu.

Spring Research Mentorship Cohort Sessions are: 

• Tuesday, February 10,  6pm Zoom
• Tuesday, March 10, 6pm Zoom
• Tuesday, April 7, 6pm Zoom
• Tuesday, April 14, 6pm Zoom

Step 4: Attend the North Carolina Youth Institute in person on April 16th and 17th, 2026 and be part of an amazing in-person experience at North Carolina State University and become a Borlaug Scholar.If you have any questions or to learn more about the process of this program, contact the North Carolina Youth Institute State Coordinators, Liz Driscoll at liz_driscoll@ncsu.edu or (919) 886-3424 or Sarah Dinger at scdinge2@ncsu.edu .

The Global Youth Institute

The top students at the North Carolina Youth Institute will be competitively selected to represent the State of North Carolina as delegates at the Global Youth Institute, held in Des Moines, Iowa in October of each year. There, they will join 150 other outstanding high school students and teachers from across the United States and around the world for an exciting three-day program to interact with Nobel and World Food Prize Laureates and the more than 1,500 global leaders from 65 countries attending the World Food Prize's annual international symposium.

For more information on how to participate in the North Carolina Youth Institute, contact the North Carolina State Coordinators, Liz Driscoll at liz_driscoll@ncsu.edu or at (919) 886-3424 and Sarah Dinger at scdinge2@ncsu.edu.

Program Files