Feb 22nd: Last Day to change title/category/field/withdraw

Please request changes to your project title, field of study, etc. – or to withdraw from science fair – by midnight on Saturday, February 22. After that, the database will close, meta-information will be locked, and judging assignments will begin. 

• Check Project Status with the button on the home page. After February 22 any Incomplete project will become Not Qualified.
• Is the Field of Study accurate? and the category (RRI or non-RRI)? 
• Is the title correct, are student names spelled correctly, and is it listed by the correct teacher/sponsor name?
• If the project is Incomplete, upload whatever information has been requested to your Forms Folder. Inform the reviewer (or whoever made the request) by email with your project code in the subject line.
• If you need to withdraw or make changes, send email to Fair Manager, using the Fair Administration link on the SCVSEFA contact page.

Judges are still needed in all fields on Fair Day, March 13. Parents and others are encouraged to register as a Category Judge as soon as possible before the March 1^st deadline. Parents are not assigned to judge their children’s or their friend’s projects. Judges must be present from Noon to 6 PM on March 13 at South Hall, San Jose Convention Center. Both returning and new judges must register here. Category Judges should have at least a Bachelor’s degree in a technical field or in education (with a concentration in a technical field). See the Category Judging page for details.

We are looking for scientists, computer scientists, engineers and others who enjoy talking to enthusiastic young people about scientific inquiry and engineering challenges. Questions? Email judging@science-fair.org.

Regeneron Science Talent Search has announced the 2025 Regeneron STS Scholars, who are the Top 300 entrants in this prestigious pre-college competition. 55 students from California have been honored, including 16 students from Santa Clara County schools and 9 students who competed in the 2024 Synopsys Championship. Congratulations to them and especially to Yash Ranjith from Westmont High School and Minghao Zou from Valley Christian High School, who are two of the 40 Finalists invited to Washington, D.C., in March to participate in final judging, display their work to the public, meet with notable scientists and compete for awards.

We are thrilled to report that we received a large number of applications before the deadline! With that in mind, we kindly ask all students and teachers to allow the staff ample time to review the submissions. If your project page indicates “Project Status: Payment Submitted,” you can rest assured that your submission was made on time.

To help expedite the review process, please ensure your Forms Folder includes the following PDFs:

• Project Page
• Form 1, Form 1A, Form 1B
• Hold Harmless
• Media Release
• Ethics Statement
• Research Plan
  *Some projects may also require Form 3 and Form 1C.

Additionally, please double-check the following:

• All forms have the necessary signatures.
• The correct boxes are checked on the Adult Sponsor Form 1.
• The signature dates on Form 1, Form 1B, Permission/Hold Harmless, and Form 3 are dated prior to the start of your experimentation.

Thank you for your attention to these details, and we appreciate your patience as we process the applications!

To see if your application is Accepted, please click Check Project Status on this page. Follow a link to the page for your teacher/sponsor. If your application is “Received,” it is waiting for review by the SRC. If it is “Incomplete,” it needs more information or additional form(s) and you will have received an email from the SRC reviewer. If you haven’t received an email about what’s missing, contact Fair Administration via the Contact page and include your 3-character Project Code and/or your 8-character Project Number. If you haven’t received a Project Number from the Fair Administration please make sure you have followed through with Step 5 (Pay & Submit) before reaching out to Fair Administration.

The FINAL application deadline of January 10, 2025 is for (a) the submission of applications and forms, AND (b) payment of the application processing fee. SRC review and approval continues after this deadline.

Project reviews are ongoing, but with the holiday season approaching, SRC reviewers will be taking time off, which may cause delays. Additionally, the influx of submissions after the holiday break and leading up to the January 10th deadline could further slow the review process. If you’re planning to submit your project for the 2025 Synopsys Championship, we recommend not waiting until the last minute. Once your forms are completed and uploaded follow Step 5 to submit payment. We can not review your project without payment. We appreciate your understanding and patience.

• Newly-submitted applications will appear as “Received” in the Check Project Status section. Administrators will confirm that all required forms are submitted before the SRC begins their review.
• Projects marked as “Pending” are currently under review by a designated SRC reviewer.
• If your project requires SRC pre-approval, experimentation or data collection cannot begin until it is marked as “Accepted”.
• If your project status is listed as “Incomplete,” you and your teacher sponsor will have received an email detailing what is missing or incorrect. Please respond to the email, and we will address your inquiry as time allows.

Category Judge registration is now open for the 2025 Synopsys Championship Science & Engineering Fair on March 13, 2025! Category Judges must be present in person from 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM in South Hall, San Jose Convention Center. Both returning and new judges must register here.

We need and welcome judges in all fields of study. We are looking for scientists, computer scientists, engineers and others who enjoy talking to enthusiastic young people about scientific inquiry and engineering challenges. Category Judges should have at least a Bachelor’s degree in a technical field or in education (with a concentration in a technical field). See the Category Judging page for details.

Applications requiring SRC pre-approval must be paid by 11:59 PM on November 13th. If you have completed all your forms and have not heard from us yet then please make sure you have completed Step 5 (Pay & Submit). We see many applications in the pipeline and look forward to receiving them soon! Keep in mind, projects that require SRC pre-approval often need extra forms, particularly projects involving humans. The ISEF Rules Wizard is a helpful tool—be sure to use it!

Congratulations to Tina Jin, 14, from San Jose, Calif., who won the $25,000 Thermo Fisher Scientific ASCEND (Aspiring Scientists Cultivating Exciting New Discoveries) Award, the top prize in the competition for her research that proved the ability of animal bones to filter water, in addition to demonstrating leadership, collaboration and critical thinking skills throughout the competition.

Congratulations to Sophie Tong, 14, Palo Alto, Calif., who won the $10,000 DoD STEM Talent Award for her project that sought to improve the safety of vehicles, such as airplanes and self-driving cars, by understanding how vision is degraded in dark, foggy conditions. She then developed algorithms to accurately analyze scenes during bad weather.

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

Please submit applications that require pre-approval as soon as possible. Please note that applications are largely addressed in the order received and many students apply at the last minute. Completing your application by the earlier pre-approval date (Oct 30, 2024) will enable you to have a faster response from the Scientific Review Committee as they will have fewer applications to review. Projects that require pre-approval often need extra forms, especially projects involving humans. Submitting at the FINAL deadline (Nov 13) may not give us enough time to resolve issues and receive all the necessary forms.

If you have completed all your forms and have not heard from us yet than 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!