Judging Folders

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.

We’re looking for helping hands at the Synopsys Championship on March 8 & 9. Volunteers are needed to help set up on Day One – when students check in their projects and get ready for judging – and on Day Two, when we set up for Judging Day, help people find their way around, and finish by packing everything away for next year. Parents of students who are competing are welcome to volunteer on Check-In Day. Please sign up here!

Judges are still needed in all fields on Fair Day, March 9. Parents and others are encouraged to register as a Category Judge as soon as possible 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 9 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.

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). If you haven’t received an email about what’s missing, contact Fair Administration via the Contact page and include your Project Code and/or Project Number.

Project reviews are ongoing. Some of our SRC volunteers will take a break during the holidays, so response time to your questions may be a bit slower than usual. Thank you in advance for your patience.

• Newly-submitted applications will appear as “Received” at Check Project Status after the administrators check for all the required forms until the SRC starts a review.
• Projects that are “Pending” are in the hands of a reviewer.
• Projects which require SRC pre-approval must wait until they are “Accepted” before experimentation or data collection starts. 
• If your project status is “Incomplete,” you or your teacher/sponsor may have received email outlining what is missing or incorrect. Please respond to the email and we will answer as time permits between now and January 2.

Category Judge registration is now open for the 2023 Synopsys Championship Science & Engineering Fair on March 9, 2023! 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 with all your Required Forms by 11:59pm on November 22nd. (What’s most frequently missing? the research plan!)

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,

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

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

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.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc, the world leader in serving science, and Society for Science announced the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, the nation’s premier middle school science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competition. The Society named Thermo Fisher as the new title sponsor of the organization’s middle school STEM competition in August. Currently called the Broadcom MASTERS, the competition leverages the Society’s extensive science fair network. Thermo Fisher’s sponsorship begins in 2023, making it only the third title sponsor in the competition’s 25-year history.