LEXINGTON, Ky. — Two Fayette County Public Schools students have earned recognition among the nation's most promising young scientists after advancing to the Top 300 in the 2026 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, according to an announcement from the school district.

Sarah Nur Islam, a seventh grader at Winburn, and Aarav Kumar Tibrewal, a Paul Laurence Dunbar High freshman who attended Beaumont Middle when the competition began, were selected from 1,997 entrants representing 34 states, Puerto Rico, and Guam.

The Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge is the premier STEM research competition for middle school students in the United States, organized by the Society for Science. The competition recognizes exceptional young minds in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Islam submitted her project "Headache Halt: A Behavioral Forecasting Approach to Predicting and Preventing Headaches," while Tibrewal is competing with "Analyzing the Efficiency of Root-Finding Algorithms on Multi-Application Polynomials."

The school district said finalists will be announced on Sept. 16, with 30 students advancing to compete for more than $100,000 in awards, including the $25,000 Thermo Fisher Scientific ASCEND Award given to the student who demonstrates mastery across all STEM fields.

The achievement reflects FCPS' commitment to STEM education. The district recently celebrated Rise STEM Academy becoming the first school in Kentucky to earn certification from the National Institute for STEM Education and has continued expanding its magnet, gifted and talented, and specialized school programs focused on STEM fields.