1st Project Submission DEADLINE Nov 14th 11:59pm!

Have you competed in our fair in the past? Did you compete in an ISEF affiliated fair other than Synopsys? Does your project require SRC pre-approval (involves risk, hazards, chemicals, humans, and/or is a Continuation)? If you answered YES to any of these questions, you must pay and submit your application by November 14 at 11:59pm. If you have completed all your forms and your project code does not appear under this “Payment Submitted” section, please make sure you’ve completed Step 5 (Pay & Submit). Please note: If you’re missing a signature or two, that’s okay—just make sure you pay before the deadline!

We strongly suggest you avoid waiting until the last minute, as technical issues can occur if everyone is trying to submit their application at the same time. If your project code already appears under the “Payment Submitted” section, or you’ve received a Project Number, rest assured your application has been received and will be processed in the order it was received. Keep in mind that projects requiring SRC pre-approval often need additional forms, particularly projects involving humans. The ISEF Rules Wizard is a helpful tool—be sure to use it!

Congratulations to Akhil Nagori, 15, from Santa Clara, CA, who won the $10,000 Broadcom Coding with Commitment ® Award for combining STEM learning with coding to solve a community problem they care about that aligns with the 17 Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations and congratulations to Evann Sun, 14, from Santa Clara, CA, won The Lemelson Foundation Award for Invention of $10,000, which is given to a young inventor creating promising product-based solutions to real-world problems.

We’d also like to congratulate Christine Wang, from San Jose, CA, for getting a Second Place Science Award for the project “Peel To Purify: An Innovative Fruit Waste-Based Solution for Contaminated Water Treatment”

The Top 30 finalists competed in a 4-day event that included individual and team challenges in various STEM disciplines. A project showcase of their projects is available.

Reminder: All previous participants must file a continuation form (Form 7) and submit their application for SRC pre-approval by the pre-approval deadline as required for continuation projects. SRC, not the student(s), will determine whether or not the project is a continuation of previous work.

Join one or both of our upcoming virtual Question and Answer sessions on Nov 1—one on “How to Start a Project” at 11am and another one which will focus on “Engineering Research Projects” at 1:00pm. A Zoom link will be provided after you register.

We recommend that teachers, students, and sponsors (including those supervising PSPs – privately sponsored projects) attend the session that best suits their needs to ask questions and get guidance. More details can be found here.

Please submit applications that require pre-approval as soon as possible. The deadline is Nov 14th!

SRC Pre-Approval is Required For:

• All students who have previously participated. They must submit a Continuation Form (Form 7) along with their application.
• Projects involving:
  • Biological materials or living organisms
  • Hazardous chemicals, activities, or devices
  • Regulated substances
• Projects involving human subjects, including testing devices or software apps, conducting surveys, or performing interviews.

Please note that applications are largely addressed in the order received. Completing your application by Nov 3, 2025 will enable you to have a faster response from the Scientific Review Committee. Projects that require pre-approval often need extra forms, especially projects involving humans.

If you have completed all your forms and we haven’t reached out then please make sure you have completed Step 5 (Pay & Submit). We can not review your application until it has been paid. We see many applications in the pipeline and look forward to receiving them soon!

Polygence wants to help students get inspired! Middle and High school students who plan to participate or are considering participating in a science fair are invited to a fun and free kick off event at Biocurious- local community microbiology lab in Santa Clara on Oct 18th from 1-4pm! Click the link to register to attend.

https://polygence.org/bay-area-science-fair-events

Note: Polygence is a SCVSEFA donor organization that hosts free events and markets their service to match high school students with subject specialist mentors.

To begin, visit the Application Instructions page. Online registration must be completed in a single session, so have all necessary information ready before you begin. This includes the project title and category, sponsor contact details, and student/parent information for each participant. PLEASE NOTE: We only process applications that have been paid for so do not forget to complete Step 5 (Pay & Submit).

SRC Pre-Approval is Required For:

• All students who have previously participated must submit a Continuation Form (Form 7) along with their application. The SRC will determine if their project qualifies as a “continuation project” or not.
• Projects involving:
  • Biological materials or living organisms
  • Hazardous chemicals, activities, or devices
  • Regulated substances
• Projects involving human subjects, including testing devices or software apps, conducting surveys, or performing interviews.

Important Deadlines:

• Final deadline for SRC/IRB pre-approval: November 14, 2025
• Recommended early submission for expedited review: November 3, 2025
  (Submitting by this earlier date increases the likelihood of a faster SRC review.)

Congratulations to Akhil Nagori, Evann Sun & Lucas Shengwen Yen from Cabrillo Middle School and Christine Wang from The Harker School who are in the Top 30 Thermo Fisher Junior Innovators Challenge. They are four of the fifteen students from the Synopsys Championship who advanced from the Top 300 semi-finalists. All 30 finalists receive a $500 cash award and will participate in Finals Week in Washington, D.C., October 24 to October 29. Check out the full press release for more details!

Sponsoring teachers are expected to understand and abide by fair rules. Sponsoring teachers are encouraged to view this year’s Teacher Workshop video and slide presentation here.

Congratulations to the Top 300 semi-finalists in the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge. We’re proud to share that fifteen students representing eight projects from the Synopsys Championship have earned a place among this distinguished group. More than 1800 middle school students from across the United States participated in the 2025 competition. The Top 30 students (to be announced on Sept 17th) will compete for more than $100,000 in awards and prizes. Finalists will compete October 24 – 29 by participating in team challenges in addition to being judged on their science research projects.