NSTC, one of the two main activities of the STEM Career Project, is an extension of the National Physics Talent Contest launched by PAEC in 1995 on the directive of the then President, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. NSTC is meant to inspire the youth of the Nation to opt for careers in science, and mathematics and to prepare them for participation in the International Olympiad in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics.

Four leading education/research institutions of the country are home Institutes for different subjects of NSTC, where students are trained and tested, and further screened for the subsequent phases of the contest.