Yale Undergraduate Science Olympiad (YUSO)

Mission

Our mission is simple. We want to leverage Yale University?s capital and human resources as best as we can to deliver a high quality Science Olympiad product for high school students and teachers. It is common for teams in the Midwest to attend multiple invitationals prior to their regional or state competitions. Why shouldn?t Northeastern teams have that luxury? We are here to serve the Northeast region at large but are also particularly interested in helping local Connecticut teams expand their SO programs by allowing them easy access to competitions in their backyard. Many local public high schools do not have the opportunity to travel farther to attend large invitationals, so we like to focus more on the schools in our local community. Since 2001, the University has invested over $1 billion in research funding, curriculum expansions, faculty appointments, and building renovations in the sciences and engineering departments. As students at a university that is traditionally focused on the humanities and social sciences, we?re glad that there?s a place at Yale for Science Olympiad. As SO alumni, we have all had our horizons broadened, self-doubts challenged, and intellectual capacities expanded through Science Olympiad. Many of us owe our curiosity for STEM fields to our high school SO experiences and it?s important to us that today?s high school students in the Northeast have even better opportunities to develop their interests. Yale has a long tradition of community and public service. We hope that our commitment to hosting quality Science Olympiad competitions for local teams upholds that tradition faithfully and helps to motivate high school students? love for science, much as we were inspired not so long ago.

Student Leaders

Olivia Tung – Coordinator/President

Activities

Yale University Science Olympiad (YUSO) Direct Service We will invite about a thousand high school students from across the country to compete in 23 different science events, on Yale’s campus. Though YUSO takes place on February 7, we need to order medals and trophies during the fall semester, since they can take a month to ship, and if any medals are missing from the order, we need time to fix it. Yale Undergraduate Science Olympiad Invitational Direct Service We host an annual invitational on campus for high school competitors to engage with various theoretical and practical STEM topics. Yale Undergraduate Science Olympiad Invitational Direct Service Each year, we host a collegiate Division C Science Olympiad Invitational on Yale’s campus, inviting 60 teams from all over the country to explore scientific topics in a competitive atmosphere. This event is completely planned and hosted by Yale undergraduate student volunteers. Yale Undergraduate Science Olympiad Invitational Direct Service We host an annual invitational on campus for high school competitors to engage with various theoretical and practical STEM topics.

How Others Get Involved

We are always looking for volunteers to help out at our invitational, which is February 7th, 2026 this year! You can email yuso@yale.edu with any questiosn