Important Dates (details)
The Synopsys Science and Technology Championship Awards Ceremony took place Sunday, March 29, 2026 at Heritage Theatre in Campbell, CA! Details about the 2026 Awards Ceremony can be found here.
CHECK OUT our Spring 2026 Newsletter! This edition thanks Synopsys Outreach Foundation for their 25 years of support, talks about ISEF and more! Read about exciting news regarding our new name, science, engineering and scientific breakthroughs!
Join an esteemed group of organizations committed to recognizing and inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers, and innovators. We invite your organization to join and help expand our 2026 Sponsored Awards Patrons list. To learn more or to become a sponsor, please contact the Sponsored Awards Committee through our Contact Us page.
Many thanks to our 2026 Sponsored Awards Patrons. All Sponsored Awards will be included in the 2026 Winner Summary soon.
If you are a student working with a mentor or headed for a Regulated Research Institution (RRI) to gain valuable experience during the summer months, you may be planning to enter a project in the upcoming Championship.
Important things to know:
1. Your mentor or the PI of the lab where you are working should read the ISEF Rules and Guidelines before you begin. Projects may “fail to qualify” if the PI does not understand that ISEF rules are more stringent than those for NIH etc.
2. We accept RRI projects only from students in grades 9-12 with the proviso that they were working legally at the RRI.
3. Certain application forms require dated signatures or institutional documents before experimentation. For a summer project, use the 2026-2027 forms here (pages 29-45):
4. The forms that are required for your specific project may be determined by using the Rules Wizard on the ISEF website.
5. If you are using a proprietary data set (one that is not publicly available) then your project is considered an RRI.
6. You may present only the work you have done yourselffor an individual project.
7. All the students on a team project must be eligible for the Championship; check eligibility here. This means that your lab partner(s) must attend school in Santa Clara County.
8. All high school students will need to have a teacher from their high school sponsor their project. The only exception is for homeschooled students.
Read all about the ISEF winners here!
