Tennessee Science Olympiad

TNSO is a free, in-person statewide STEM competition run by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Middle and high school teams compete in regional and state tournaments, with top teams advancing to the national level.

The Tennessee Science Olympiad (TNSO) is a prestigious statewide STEM competition organized and hosted by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. It engages middle and high school teams across Tennessee in a series of regional and state tournaments culminating in an in-person state event at UT Knoxville. The competition promotes science education, teamwork, and problem-solving through various challenging STEM events, with top teams advancing to the national tournament.

Competition Details

Judging Criteria

Teams compete across approximately 23 events covering biology, earth science, chemistry, physics, engineering, and more. Each event has specific scoring rubrics based on accuracy, speed, creativity, or problem-solving success, detailed in the official event rules. Team scores are aggregated event-by-event to form total team scores. At regionals, top teams by combined scores advance to the state competition. At state, the highest scoring teams in each division secure the title and qualify for the national tournament. Placement and advancement are determined strictly by cumulative event points with tie-breakers as outlined in official rules.