Philadelphia, PA, (November 3, 2025) — Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) announced today that its MathWorks Math Modeling Challenge 2026 (M3 Challenge) has opened registration for teams from the U.S., England, and Wales. Sixth form students (ages 16-19) and U.S. high school junior and senior students will compete for $100,000+ (£75,000+) in scholarship awards. A total of 37 team scholarship awards will be made. The contest is 100% free of registration or participation fees.
Registration deadline: February 20, 2026, at 5 p.m. ET
Challenge weekend: February 27 – March 2, 2026
For more information and to register, visit http://m3challenge.siam.org.
Now in its 21st year, M3 Challenge spotlights applied mathematics and technical computing as powerful problem-solving tools and viable, exciting professions. Each year, the Challenge attracts the participation of thousands of students who work in small teams, committing 14 consecutive hours on the designated Challenge weekend to use math and data to solve a real-world problem.
After a rigorous judging process by an international panel of 100+ mostly Ph.D.-level mathematicians, six top teams and three MATLAB Technical Computing awardees will advance to present their solutions at the competition’s final presentation and awards ceremony event—an all-expense paid experience for the finalist teams—held in New York City in late April. M3 Challenge will also award three SPARK Awards for teams that develop Solutions with Passion, Resourcefulness, and Knowledge. These scholarship awards recognize Title 1 eligible U.S. schools whose teams demonstrate excellence and creativity in solving one or more parts of the Challenge problem. Each winning team’s school will receive a $750 award in support of STEM education.
M3 Challenge differs from other math competitions because it asks students to use math and data to represent, analyze, make predictions about, and provide insight into current world issues. The use of code to enhance solutions is not required, but if teams choose to code using MATLAB, they become eligible to earn additional MATLAB Technical Computing Awards.
In past Challenges, students have addressed issues such as the transition of trucking from diesel to electric, the management of heat waves and power outages, affordable housing, and the viability of recycling programs.
Participants are offered a range of free resources, training materials, and software licenses to help them prepare for the Challenge—including MathWorks’ MATLAB software, which is widely used across academia and commercial industries around the world.
Since 2006, M3 Challenge has awarded more than $2.05 million in scholarships
About Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is an international community of more than 14,000 individual members who are researchers, educators, students, and practitioners from around the world working in industry, government, laboratories, and academia. Membership also includes nearly 500 academic and corporate organizations worldwide. SIAM serves and advances the disciplines of applied mathematics and computational and data science by publishing a variety of books and prestigious peer-reviewed research journals, by holding conferences, and by hosting activity groups in various areas of mathematics. Further information is available at siam.org.
About MathWorks
MathWorks is the leading developer of mathematical computing software. MATLAB, the language of engineers and scientists, is a programming environment for algorithm development, data analysis, visualization, and numeric computation. Simulink is a block diagram environment for simulation and Model-Based Design of multidomain and embedded engineering systems. Engineers and scientists worldwide rely on these products to accelerate the pace of discovery, innovation, and development in automotive, aerospace, communications, electronics, industrial automation, and other industries. MATLAB and Simulink are also fundamental teaching and research tools in the world’s universities and learning institutions. Founded in 1984, MathWorks employs more than 6,000 people in 34 offices around the world, with headquarters in Natick, Massachusetts, USA. For additional information, visit mathworks.com.
