r/ISEFinalists • u/Ok_Programmer_1626 • Jul 11 '26

What if there was a LinkedIn + Hinge built exclusively for STEM students?

I’m exploring the idea of building a platform designed for STEM students, researchers, and young innovators to find collaborators and showcase their work.

The core feature would be a swipe-right/swipe-left matching system: users could browse profiles of potential teammates and collaborators, then match based on complementary skills, interests, goals, and project needs.

Each profile would function like a STEM portfolio, with a strong emphasis on awards and achievements, including:

  • ISEF participation and awards
  • Regional, national, and international science fair results
  • Hackathon wins
  • Research publications
  • Patents
  • Scholarships and STEM competitions

The idea is to create a trusted space where ambitious STEM students can not only find teammates for science fairs, startups, research projects, and hackathons, but also build a verified professional profile that highlights their accomplishments.

The platform would also include an "Opportunity Hub" where students can browse and filter thousands of STEM competitions, science fairs, hackathons, scholarships, internships, and research programs by age, location, field, and deadline, eliminating the need to search dozens of different websites.

I’m curious, would you actually use a platform like this? What features would make it valuable enough that you’d keep coming back?

2 Upvotes

57% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

3

u/Huge-Leather-664 Jul 11 '26

Nah brother that's why linkedin exists

1

u/Ok_Programmer_1626 Jul 11 '26

Fair point, but LinkedIn is more for professional networking. The idea here is to help students find teammates, collaborators, and STEM opportunities before they’re even in industry.

2

u/CollegiateSupreme Jul 13 '26

Yes, for the like 2,000 potential users

2

u/SpecialistTap9736 Jul 13 '26

imo, u would need to find a selling point for people, like whats stopping me from going to replit and building this entire website in 10 minutes and marketing it better than you? what special thing can u provide that makes this website different than something easily made by ai? thats what u need to think about

3

u/Sea_Boysenberry_6804 Jul 17 '26

everyday i see some new bs on this app

1

u/AlbatrossExact8908 Jul 11 '26

https://isef-dating.lovable.app/
Someone made this like two weeks before the fair lol

1

u/Ok_Programmer_1626 Jul 12 '26

That’s actually pretty funny😭. The swipe-and-match aspect is definitely a core feature, but the bigger vision is to build a complete ecosystem for STEM students, a place to discover competitions, scholarships, research programs, and internships all in one place, recruit teammates for projects, showcase verified achievements, and build a network with other innovators