Feb 20th 8PM: Deadline to change title/category/field/withdraw

Please request changes to your project title, field of study, etc. – or to withdraw from science fair – by 8PM on Friday, February 20. 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 20 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.

Individual Judging Folders will be available on your Project Page around February 21. A link will be sent to the email address used at registration. Please follow the newly posted Steps 7–10 for next steps.

Students may need to request Editor access to their Judging Folders in order to upload new or revised project materials after March 3rd. Contact your Fair Administrator to request access; please include your project code.  

Each judging folder must include a Project Abstract. Some projects may also require additional forms, as outlined below:

• Project abstract (interactive PDF or Word document). Download, complete and save as a PDF. 
• Form 1C: Regulated Research Institutional / Industrial Setting Form. High School students with a professional mentor (RRI projects) must upload Form 1C, which is completed after the research is done.
• Form 7: Continuation Projects Form.

Regeneron Science Talent Search has announced the 2026 Regeneron STS Scholars, who are the Top 300 entrants in this prestigious pre-college competition. Fifty-five students from California have been honored, including 20 students from Santa Clara County schools and 15 students who competed in the 2025 Synopsys Championship. Congratulations to them and especially to Kevin Lu from Bellarmine College Preparatory School and Max Hung Huang from Leland 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.

STEM Research Grants provide support to teachers engaging their students in grades 6 – 12 in authentic scientific research.  Teachers can apply by Oct 31st for up to $5,000 to purchase specialized equipment or $1,000 in preselected equipment including Arduino starter kits, camera traps, and PocketLab sensors. Over 5 years, $575,000 has been awarded to 283 teachers. Priority consideration is given to schools that support students who are underrepresented in STEM or those who come from low-income communities. Last year the Society for Science provided STEM research equipment kits and funding to 95 middle and high school educators to help their students conduct research outside the classroom.

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

Congratulations to Akhilesh Varadan Balasingam, Eshani Jha, Anushka Sanyal and Claire Tang, who all participated in the 2020 Synopsys Championship, and especially to Eshani Jha, who won the 3rd place Regeneron STS award for her project on effective, inexpensive water filtration using biowaste material. Forty finalists, including nine students from California, participated in the finals week competition of Regeneron STS, which is the nation’s oldest science and mathematics competition for high school seniors. The competition was virtual this year, culminating in a virtual public forum on March 14th and a formal awards gala on March 17th.

On July 25 (today!) the Society for Science & the Public and Regeneron will offer a virtual exhibition of the Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) 2020 finalists’ original research projects. The finalists will be at their booths and able to respond to questions from 2-4pm ET on July 25 and the exhibit will be available for viewing through August 3. On July 25 you can view the Public Exhibition of Projects and on July 29 from 8-9 pm ET to watch the Winners Award Ceremony.

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!

The deadline applies to both (a) submission of all applications and forms and (b) payment of the application processing fee. Initial administrative review of your forms and SRC review and approval will continue after this deadline.

To confirm that your application is successfully submitted, look for your Project Code under the “Payment Submitted” section. If you do not see your Project Code then please ensure you have completed Step 5 (Pay & Submit). We strongly encourage you not to wait until the last minute to submit your payment! To check whether your project has been accepted, click Check Project Status and follow the link for your teacher/sponsor.

If you see Incomplete but haven’t received an email, first check your Spam Folders and then contact Fair Administration via the Contact page and include your 3-character Project Code. 

We kindly ask all students and teachers to allow the staff and SRC ample time to review the recent submissions.

Important Notice: If you are a returning student or require SRC pre-approval, the November 14 deadline has passed and you are not eligible to participate in the 2026 Synopsys Championship. Please do not submit payment at this time, and we encourage you to keep next year’s deadlines in mind.

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.