Category Judges Needed

Judges are still needed in all fields on Fair Day, March 14. Parents and others are encouraged to register as a Category Judge 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 14 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.

CSEF posted the list of qualified students from the Synopsys Championship on their web page. They have also individually sent each student an email invitation to submit their CSEF application through a special URL crafted just for the students. If you’re named on the list but have not received an invitation check your spam folder and other email accounts, but then email CSEF@usc.edu to request a new invitation – perhaps to a different email address – as soon as possible.
Follow CSEF instructions to begin your application by the March 28th deadline. The project presentation materials and all forms are due by March 30th. Important: Do not submit your original forms 1B, 4, 5a or 6a to CSEF. You must submit copies with an official SRC/IRB signature(s). If you did not get these forms signed at the Synopsys Championship please bring them Sunday March 26th to be signed after the Awards Ceremony. If you have questions please contact fairmanager@science-fair.org.

To learn more about how one is chosen for CSEF please visit our Judging FAQ for Students page.

Regeneron Science Talent Search has announced the 2024 Regeneron STS Scholars, who are the Top 300 entrants in this prestigious pre-college competition. 40 students from California have been honored, including 16 students from Santa Clara County schools and 8 students who competed in the 2023 Synopsys Championship. Congratulations to them and especially to Zeyneb N. Kaya from Saratoga High School and Michelle Wei from The Harker 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.

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.

A Teacher Workshop specifically geared to help teachers fill out the Synopsys Championship paperwork will be held In-Person on Wednesday, Oct 25 from 4:30-5:30pm in Santa Clara, CA. Location details will be shared with the first 35 teachers who register for the workshop. Email fairmanager@science-fair.org to register.

It is strongly recommended for teachers who are new or relatively new to the Championship. The workshop will focus on how to fill out the forms correctly, especially projects that require SRC pre-approval, the importance of dates, and meeting Minimum Quality Requirements. It is strongly recommended that you take time to review the ISEF Rules and Guidelines (https://www.societyforscience.org/isef/international-rules/) BEFORE joining the session.

Category Judge registration is now open for the 2024 Synopsys Championship Science & Engineering Fair on March 14, 2024! 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.

If your project needs pre-approval by the Scientific Review Committee, be sure to apply and PAY with all your Required Forms by 11:59pm on November 21st. (What’s most frequently missing? The research plan and/or your payment)

Pre-approval is required for projects that involve:

• humans (surveys, questionnaires, testing of engineering prototypes and apps)
• vertebrate animals (everything from fish to your pet dog, cat or goat),
• potentially hazardous biological agents (bacteria and fungi), rDNA, human or vertebrate animal tissue,
• hazardous chemicals, activities and devices

Pre-approval is also required for continuation projects that build on your earlier science fair project.

*Students may not culture bacteria and fungi (grow on agar plates or in flasks containing media) at home.

Pre-approval projects often need one or more Additional Forms. Check the ISEF Rules Wizard and watch for an email from your SRC reviewer about any missing form(s) or with questions about your project.  You may not start work (experimentation) until your project is approved.

Congratulations to Shanya Gill, 12, from San Jose, CA! She is the top winner at Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, taking the $25,000 ASCEND (Aspiring Scientists Cultivating Aspiring New Discoveries) Award, for her project designing a fire detection system as well as her leadership, collaboration and critical thinking skills.

Congratulations to Adyant Bhavsar, 13, from San Jose, who won the $10,000 Lemelson Award for Invention, awarded by The Lemelson Foundation to a young inventor creating promising product-based solutions to real-world problems. Adyant created a low-cost, eco-friendly version of a triboelectric nanogenerator. This device generates electricity from the mechanical energy of two touching objects when they separate.

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 will be available for several weeks beginning November 2.

A question and answer session will be held on Thursday Sept 28 from 4:30-6pm at Santa Clara High School’s FabLab. It is recommended that students, new teachers, as well as sponsors who will supervise a PSP (privately-sponsored project), attend to ask questions and get answers. The slides will give you an overview of how to get started, do’s and don’ts and timelines for the 2024 Synopsys Championship. It is strongly recommended that you review the slides BEFORE coming to the Q n A.

Santa Clara High School (3000 Benton St, Santa Clara, CA 95051)

Please submit applications that require pre-approval as soon as possible. Projects that require pre-approval often need extra forms, especially projects involving humans. Submitting at the FINAL deadline (Nov 21) 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!