Category Judge registration is open

Please register to be a Category Judge for the 2021 Virtual Synopsys Championship Science & Engineering Fair, to be held online from 12:30 PM to 6 PM on March 11, 2021. 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 requires pre-approval by the Scientific Review Committee, be sure to submit all your completed forms by the deadline. If you are missing a form, upload it as soon as possible after Monday. The SRC will review your application when all required forms are in your Forms Folder.
Check that you have uploaded 8 required forms. Common problems: the bar-coded Project Application Form is missing; Form 1 is missing, incomplete or blank; the research plan is missing.

There’s a new digital process for completing and submitting application forms for the 2021 Synopsys Championship. Please go to the Application Instructions page to get started. After completing the first registration step, you will receive an individualized set of instructions and a link to the Forms Folder for your project.

We are excited to share videos of some Championship projects in the 2020 Synopsys Championship Winners Showcase.  We couldn’t hold an in-person Winners’ Circle in September, where students would have shared a few words about their projects and their experiences at CSEF and ISEF.  So we’re celebrating our winners by showcasing their work online!

The Society for Science & the Public and Broadcom Foundation invite the public to attend a virtual exhibition of original research projects by the Broadcom MASTERS 2020 finalists. The Top 30 Broadcom MASTERS finalists were selected from a pool of 3,476 entrants nationwide and are currently competing for more than $100,000 in awards. They include Anish Bhethanabotla from Joaquin Miller Middle School and Anika Pallapothu from The Harker School. The Showcase is open for viewing through Nov. 4th. Register at the MASTERS web site.

High school seniors: Complete your applications for the Regeneron Science Talent Search by November 12, 2020 at 8 pm Eastern Time. https://bit.ly/2NEV4Qq

Deadline extended to Oct. 19th. Teachers may apply for a science project package from the Synopsys Outreach Foundation. Details at https://outreach-foundation.org/teachers/. They offer a variety of project-based STEM items that teachers can utilize virtually or send home with students. All items are free of cost and available to educators at public schools, dependent charter schools, independent charter schools with 501(c)(3) public charity status and private non-profit schools with 501(c)(3) public charity status located in California.

Items available to teachers in Santa Clara County (CA):

• Tri-fold Science Project Poster Boards (up to 60)
• adhesive, 3″ round “I Did It!” stickers (up to 60)
• “I Did It!” participant ribbons
• Rosette place ribbons (three each of first, second, and third place)
• Certificates of Participation
• 1 year membership to either CASE or RAFT
• You may choose from one of the following:
  • Planting Starter Set
  • A classroom set of 30 magnifiers
  • A classroom set of 10 safety thermometers
  • A classroom set of 30 science notebooks

A replay of the workshop is available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzVggKHOitp3zhQrk4Yd5ow/.
The workshop on computer science projects in response to COVID-19 was recorded on Sept. 30th .
Agenda: Gen Z and the digital world (4th industrial revolution); Demo of 5th, 6th, 10th grade CS project work in response to SARS-CoV-19; Step-by-step look at some online AI tools; Q&A about academia and the software industry, how product manager’s day looks like, etc.
The workshop leader is Catherine Fang, PhD computer engineer and instructor at the Integrated Innovation Institute, Carnegie Mellon University Silicon Valley. Thank you, Catherine!

The Society for Science & the Public (SSP) has posted Research @ Home resources on its website and announced that Regeneron ISEF 2021 will be held as a virtual competition with judging and awards in May 2021: “We will continue to seek ways to support student research even in these unusual times, but acknowledge that change is likely in the coming year.”

SCVSEFA hopes you’ll consider joining the successful team behind the Synopsys Championship for what promises to be an interesting and challenging year. Our volunteer opportunities are described below, including the important role of leading the Science Review Committee (SRC). To learn more, please contact Volunteer Opportunities through the SCVSEFA contact page or send a message to Heidi Black: .