April 11th, 2025 | NC State University, Plant Sciences Building

Register now through NCSU’s Reporter (Papers should be submitted by March 10th, 2025).

All high school youth are invited to join us for the 2025 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.

North Carolina Youth Institute students gathering at the Plant Sciences Building on Centennial Campus at NC State.

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’s 4-H Youth Development Program and the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences and is a part of the World Food Prize Foundation’s Global Youth Institute. Youth come to campus in the spring of each year to attend the day long institute at NC State University and share their research paper among peers and a panel of judges. Hands-on workshops, field trips, keynotes and career development will round out the event. There is no registration cost to participate in the Institute.

To participate, youth research a global issue and write a three to four page paper under the supervision of a teacher/mentor (using these downloadable guidelines).

Here are the steps to get started:

Step 1: Find a mentor: identify a mentor locally that really believes in you. This could be a teacher at your school, a 4-H club leader, a coach, FFA advisor, or a parent. They will help keep you on track and motivated to complete the paper.

• New for 2025 – Consider applying to the Plant Sciences Initiative’s Youth Externship program. Aligned to support your Global Research Paper by pairing you with a mentor from NCSU. Apply by November 1st, 2024

Step 2:  Research and write your paper: to get started on your paper use this guide to:

• Choose a country (other than the one you live in)

• Describe your chosen country: What is the population? What percentage of the population lives in rural communities and what percentage lives in urban areas? How many people are food insecure? What type of government and leadership exists? How much of the land is currently cultivated? What are the major crops and exports? What is the average farm size? What can you compare it to for context? What is the climate and geography?

• Research and describe what life is like for a typical family in your chosen country:

• Select a focus topic for your Global Challenge research. Your topic should be relevant to your chosen country:

• Analyze the impact: hat is the present status and severity of this topic? Are trends improving, worsening or staying the same? What factors are contributing to this trend? How does this topic affect rural and urban populations? Does this topic affect demographic groups differently? If so, how? How does this topic affect marginalized populations? (Examples: historically underrepresented groups, refugee populations, Indigenous communities, etc.) How does this topic affect the environment?
• Solutions & recommendations: What are 2-3 solutions that address the challenge? Would these solutions meet all the needs of the population in your country? Which local solutions have already been tried in your chosen country? What impact did those solutions have?
• Now write and format your paper!

Step 3: Register anytime and then submit your paper (paper upload link will be posted soon): Register (anytime) and submit your paper online by March 10th, 2025. 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.

Step 4: Attend the North Carolina Youth Institute: on April 11th, 2025 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 Coordinator, Liz Driscoll at liz_driscoll@ncsu.edu or (919) 886-3424.

In the spring of each year, students attend the day long institute at NC State University and share their research paper among peers and a panel of judges. Hands-on workshops, field trips, keynotes and career development will round out the event. There is no registration cost to participate in the Institute and lodging and meals will be provided. However, both student and teacher/mentor participants must organize their own transportation to and from the event in Raleigh, NC.

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 Coordinator Liz Driscoll at liz_driscoll@ncsu.edu or at (919) 886-3424.

Youth sharing their roundtable ideas with the group.

Youth sharing ideas towards building a more resilient food system

NCYI youth participate in hands-on agriculture technology workshop

NCYI youth take a tour of the high tech greenhouses at NC State’s Plant Sciences Building

Program Files

Share this flyer with all your friends, we would love everyone to participate in the fight for global food system resiliency and zero hunger.

Download the 2025 Global Challenge paper guidelines. Submit your paper by Monday, March 10th, 2025

See the 2024 NC Youth Institute schedule