Category Judge Registration is OPEN

Category Judge registration is now open for the 2026 Synopsys Championship on March 10, 2026! 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.

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: Additional Forms such as Form 7, 3 Form 1C, 2, 4 etc.

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.

Lastly, it may be several weeks before an SRC reviewer is able to evaluate your project for approval. Staff have to review before SRC can review/approve. We appreciate your patience as we work through the many submissions that came in just before the deadline.

Thursday, November 20, 7:00 to 7:45 PM

Video call link: ttps://meet.google.com/azn-memm-pjv

This is a pilot programme that will be run by high school students for first-time STEM fair participants.

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.)