Young Defence Scientists Programme 2026: Completed Congress and Tracks
Current YDSP 2026 status, the completed 28 April Congress, published programme tracks, school and DSTA enquiry route, and careful portfolio guidance.
Q: What is the current YDSP 2026 status? A: The YDSP Congress took place on 28 April 2026 and marked the culmination of a year of research, mentorship, camps, and other learning experiences. DSTA's programme page remains the source for current tracks and how students can enquire or apply.
YDSP Congress 2026 is complete
DSTA reports that more than 450 students from 19 schools took part across areas including artificial intelligence, robotics, cybersecurity, unmanned systems, and quantum technologies. At the Congress, students presented work developed through Research@YDSP attachments and the Science and Technology Camp.
The event also recognised 30 YDSP Scholarship recipients and 35 DSTA Junior College Scholarship recipients. This is a completed 2026 result, not an upcoming Congress or scholarship briefing.
Programme scope
DSTA's public YDSP material describes opportunities such as:
- Research@YDSP attachments;
- Science and Technology Camp;
- World of Science activities; and
- a Congress where work and learning are shared.
The exact eligibility, dates, number of places, and application steps can differ by track and cycle. Students should use a school notice, ask a teacher for help, or contact DSTA through the official programme channel.
What students can learn
YDSP can involve open-ended technical work, experimentation, iteration, teamwork, and communication with engineers or researchers. A useful personal record includes:
- the problem and constraints;
- the student's own contribution;
- tests that failed and what changed;
- evidence supporting the final result;
- safety or ethics considerations; and
- a short reflection on what remains unresolved.
This record helps a student explain genuine work later. It is not an organiser-mandated admissions formula.
Claims removed from the previous guide
The previous page advertised an expired December 2025 coding and hardware bootcamp, a downloadable Eclat readiness audit, and mock interviews that were not established offerings. It also implied a fixed YDSP application and scholarship sequence that the public page does not publish.
Those calls to action have been removed. Current programme and scholarship decisions belong to DSTA and the relevant schools.
Frequently asked questions
When was YDSP Congress 2026?
28 April 2026.
Is the Congress still upcoming?
No. DSTA describes it as the culmination of the completed year's activities.