Students, Let’s Get Science Fair Ready

Students need the support of a sponsor to complete a project. Make sure you review the Handbook for information you need to follow to participate. 

For project submission, sponsors must complete STEMWIZARD, the official registration process for entering a project, and fill out the ISEF Forms.

Go to the ISEF website for the forms needed: https://student.societyforscience.org/intel-isef-forms  (Forms for the upcoming fair year must be used.)

Watch this video for further assistance on ISEF forms.

We understand coming up with a topic can be difficult. A good science fair project idea is one that asks a clear scientific question that can be answered through experimentation, or identifies a problem that can be solved using engineering. Avoid product comparisons as a topic as they usually are not based on a good scientific question. 

Here’s a guide to help get you started.

If you have an idea but need help refining your purpose and hypothesis, check out this helpful resource.

If students would like to conduct projects that involve humans, vertebrates, or potentially hazardous biological agents (microbiology) that cannot be pre-approved by the school IRB. Only minimal risk human projects can be approved and rest need to go to SRC. Please email the research plan to director@casef.org for the SRC to review. NO RESEARCH CAN BEGIN UNTIL THE PROJECT IS APPROVED!

Young Scholars Program participants may not have human participants or use vertebrate animals. Please follow guidelines explained for Young Scholars.

Please be sure to follow the instructions as outlined in the Reference Guide.  

To avoid noncompliance with school district policies and CIPA, a video component will no longer be required. To match ISEF protocol, a Judge’s Brief requirement will replace the video.

The Judge’s Brief is a pdf file that provides a quick summation overview of the project and will be viewable online by the judges. It should present the “talking points” that would be discussed in an interview with the judges and folllow these basic rules:

1. Any text or photos used in the display board or journal may also be used in the judges’ brief.

2. PowerPoint, Google Slides, Canva, or another similar platform may be used to create the judges’ brief.

3. The judges’ brief must be uploaded as a PDF to the Submission for Judges’ Review milestone in STEMWIZARD.

4. Text should be in a bulleted list form and as brief as possible to read at-a-glance.

5. The judges’ brief should include all appropriate photo credits.  The photos taken by the researcher should be noted in the caption, otherwise, cite the image.  The judges’ brief should not include a bibliography, references, or acknowledgments.  These should be included in the project paper.

6. No more than seven (7) slides may be included and needs to include the following information.

It is important you meet every deadline and requirement to compete in the CASEF Fair. To help, we have created a sample project schedule to get you started: Download.

Projects must follow the guidelines and pass the certification checklist on the Exhibit Identification Form. All projects will be allotted 36 inches of table space and can be no taller than 72 inches.  The display should have a consistent font type and size. All Tables and Figures should be identified and captioned.  All photographs and diagram sources need to be cited.

In addition, all displays must include:

• Journal

• Project titles

• Project paper

• Project Display Board

• Hard copies of the Project Final Abstract Form, Exhibit Identification Form, and Participation Agreement, Media Release/Waiver

Find a template for the display board here.

Following instructions is an important part of the science fair process. Projects that do not follow expected protocol or miss deadlines may receive lower scores, be omitted from special awards, or be disqualified. For further details, review the CASEF Reference Guide.