1) Teacher Registration | Closed on Saturday, Mar 15, 2025
Teacher registration needs to be submitted by school official, teacher or a parent if home schooled, NOT by students.
Every teacher with participating student needs to be registered first. There is no penalty for submitting this registration and not having any participating students.
Teachers are encouraged to register themselves as soon as possible, to expedite project registration process.
If your school/teacher is not participating in our program, you can still register as a home school project.
You still need to register teacher for official participation. Use your last name as a school name and register student's parent or guardian as a teacher.
2) Create Project Account | Closed on Thursday, Mar 13, 2025
Account can be created by students or their teachers.
Each project that wants to participate at our fair will need to create an account.
Via the use of the project account, you will be able to add students to your project, submit your pre-approval paperwork (step 3),
project registration (step 4) and submit your final ISEF forms (step 5) for your project.
3) Project Pre-Approval | Closed on Tuesday, Feb 25, 2025
Submitting project pre-approval paperwork alone does not insure your participation at the fair, you will still need to register your project (see step 4).
Every project (not student) that wants to participate in ESDSEF is required to submit forms related to their project.
Some projects, especially those involving human subjects, animal subjects, biological or chemical agents may need to be pre-approved before experimentation.
If your forms require SRC or IRB approval you will need to submit them to use before you begin your experimentation.
Please note the following guidelines when dealing with forms: Research Plan and Abstract needs to be submitted with your forms.
You will need to have complete set of forms at your table during the fair with original signatures. You will also need to present your lab book and SRC approval form if applicable.
For pre-approval, you will need to submit all required forms in one PDF file.
Incomplete forms will be rejected, thus delaying your project.
Projects that fail to submit their paperwork on time will not be eligible for special awards and 1st place in their category.
Junior Division Projects (grades 6-8)
Regardless of the project type, Junior Division projects will need to fill out Junior Division Science Fair Form for their pre-approval along with their research plan in one PDF file.Senior Division Projects (grades 9-12)Form 1 - Checklist for Adult Sponsor | Form 1A - Student Checklist & RP Instructions | Form 1B - Approval Form
Form 1 and Form 1A are required for all projects. Form 1B is required for all project team members.Form 1C - Regulated Research Institutional / Industrial Setting Form
This form must be completed AFTER experimentation by the adult supervising the student research conducted in a regulated research institution, industrial setting or any work site other than home, school or field.Form 2 - Qualified Scientist
May be required for research involving human participants, vertebrate animals, potentially hazardous biological agents, and DEA-controlled substances. Must be completed and signed before the start of student experimentation.Form 3 - Risk Assessment
Required for projects using hazardous chemicals, activities or devices and microorganisms which are exempt from pre-approval. Must be completed before experimentation.Form 4 - Human Participants | Human Informed Consent Form
Required for all research involving human participants not at a Regulated Research Institution. If at a Regulated Research Institution, use institutional approval forms for documentation of prior review and approval.Form 5A - Vertebrate Animal
Required for all research involving vertebrate animals that is conducted in a school/home/field research site. (SRC approval required before experimentation.)Form 5B - Vertebrate Animal
Required for all research involving vertebrate animals that is conducted in at a Regulated Research Institution. (IACUC approval required before experimentation. Form must be completed and signed after experimentation.)Form 6A - Potentially Hazardous Biological
Required for research involving microorganisms, rDNA, fresh/frozen tissue (including primary cell lines, human and other primate established cell lines and tissue cultures), blood, blood products and body fluids.Form 6B - Human and Vertebrate Tissue
Required for research involving fresh/frozen tissue (including primary cell lines, human and other primate established cell lines and tissue cultures), blood, blood products and body fluids. If the research involves living organisms please ensure that the proper human or animal forms are completed. All projects using any tissue listed above must also complete Form 6A.Form 7 - Continuation
Required for projects that are a continuation/progression in the same field of study as a previous project. This form must be accompanied by the previous year's abstract and Research Plan/Project Summary.
4) Project Registration | Closed on Thursday, Mar 13, 2025
If your project required pre-approval (see step 3) your paperwork needs to be approved prior to registering.
Only projects/students that will be participating at our fair should complete this registration step.
If you are not sure of your participation, do not complete this part of the registration. There is maximum limit of (3) students per project account and project ID; and only one project per project ID.
All project team members must be registered on same project account. Do not create independent project accounts for each team member.
If after you register you decide not to participate at our fair, please contact us and let us know as soon as possible so that we may remove your registration
and assign your judges to another participating project.
All participating students/projects are required to review all our participation, safety and display rules before attending our event.
5) Final ISEF Forms | Closed on Friday, Mar 14, 2025
All projects will need to submit some version of final paperwork.
Junior Division Projects (grades 6-8)
Regardless of the project type, Junior Division projects will need to fill out Junior Division Science Fair Form for their final paperwork along with their research plan in one PDF file. You will need to do this even if you have submitted this form for pre-approval.Senior Division Projects (grades 9-12)After you register for ESDSEF and receive a project number, log into your project account and upload a complete set of ISEF forms. All projects and students in senior division need to submit ISEF forms regardless of the fact if they needed SRC or IRB approval. See step 3 above for list of ISEF forms.Please note the following guidelines when dealing with ISEF forms: Research Plan needs to be submitted with your ISEF forms. ESDSEF does require students to submit an abstract form, however we recommend students keep few copies available by their projects. You will need to have complete set of forms at your table during the fair with original signatures. You will also need to present your lab book and SRC approval form if applicable.Incomplete forms will be rejected, thus delaying your project. Projects that fail to submit their paperwork on time will not be eligible for special awards and 1st place in their category.