Update: Forms to Bring on Check-In Day

UPDATE –  Printed copies of Forms 1, 1A, 2, 3, 5A, 5B and Research Plan are no longer required at Check-In on March 8th. If you have already printed your application, bring everything and SRC will sign the forms where required.

Forms that are required:

• Project Abstract (1 copy)
• Compliance-Checklist
• Project Notebook (optional for Middle School); hard copy, printed, or digital.
• Form 1C Regulated Research Institutional / Industrial Setting Form (if your project requires it)
• Form 7 Continuation Projects Form (if your project requires it)
• Form 4 Human Participants Form from your application (if your project requires it)
• Signed Human Informed Consent Forms (if your project requires them) (Fair Check-In Day ONLY)
• Signed Ethics Statement
• Form 1B from your application
• Forms 6A and 6B from your application if your project requires it

The deadline to register as a Category Judge has been extended to March 6th. Judges are needed who can judge Plant/Animal Science, Quantitative Biology/Bioinformatics or Environmental Science and Engineering.  Please register here. Judges must be present from Noon to 6 PM on March 9th at South Hall, San Jose Convention Center. 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.

Students should do a final check of their Judging Folders before the Category judges and Sponsored Award judges start to review them. (1) Use PDF documents and eliminate duplicates in other formats. (2) The Project Abstract should include your project code, title, and name(s) (those don’t count against the 250-word limit). (3) File names should include the project code. (4) Form 1C for RRI projects and Form 7 for Continuation projects should be included if your project requires it, but no other forms should be copied over from your Application Folder.

Changes are possible until Wednesday, March 8th at 5 PM, but you may need to ask the Fair Manager for “Editor” access to your folder.

Upload your project abstract to your Judging Folder by 11:59pm on Feb 28th. On March 1st, projects with no abstract posted will be withdrawn from the Championship. You must also upload Form 1C if you have an RRI project and Form 7 if you have a continuation project. No other forms belong in your Judging Folder. You will continue to have access to your Judging Folder to revise your abstract until March 3rd, 11:59 PM.  Don’t use subfolders. Use PDF documents and eliminate duplicates in other formats.

Starting now, students may need to request Editor access to their Judging Folders in order to upload Abstracts. Contact the Fair Administrators to request access if you can not access the folder via your Project Page; please include your project code. You may use the links on your Project Page and follow the newly posted Step 7 through Step 10 for instructions.  Links were sent to the address you used when you registered.

The process to send out Judging Folder links is expected to be complete by Feb 19th. Students will follow the links and the new steps on their Project Pages. If you don’t receive a link, check your Spam folder and all your email addresses; then contact the Fair Administrators. Links will be sent to the address you used when you registered.

Deadline for project changes is Feb 17th

Please request changes to your project title, field of study, etc. – or to withdraw from science fair – by midnight on Friday, February 17. Then 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 17 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.

If your project is Accepted, on February 19 you may start to upload project materials to your Judging Folder, following new instructions on your Project Page. You will receive an email with details soon.

Individual Judging Folders will be made available – via everyone’s individual Project Page – by Feb 19th. Then you may use the links on your Project Page and follow the newly posted Step 7 through Step 10 for instructions. Links will be sent to the address you used when you registered. 

By March 1, students may need to request Editor access to their Judging Folders in order to upload new or revised project materials. Contact the Fair Administrators to request access; please include your project code.  

Every Judging Folder needs at least the Project Abstract, some projects require additional forms: 

• 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.

All attendees will be required to wear N95/KN95 masks on both March 8th and 9th. If you forgot one, an N95 mask will be available for pickup at the entrance of South Hall, San Jose Convention Center and hand sanitizer will be available onsite. We encourage all attendees to get your flu shot, make sure your COVID vaccines and booster shots are up-to-date, self-test regularly, and if you show symptoms such as cold, cough or fever please stay home. Please notify us by email to fairmanager@science-fair.org if you must cancel at the last minute.  Unfortunately, we are not able to offer judging online for this fair.

The California Life Sciences (CLS) 2023 Bay Area BioGENEius Challenge is now open for submission! The 2023 Challenge will take place at the California Life Sciences Event Center in South San Francisco facility on April 28, 2023. It is open to students Grades 9 – 12.