Phase I and Exhibition Phase Judging

Phase I Judging

The first phase of judging at the Fair is the project pre-screening, which starts shortly after the Entry Deadline, and determines which projects will advance to the exhibition-phase. All entries are screened based on the following criteria:

• Technical quality of the project
• Use of available resources
• Amount of effort expended on the project by the student

This evaluation is based on the information in the TNJSF Research Plan Form, which must be submitted by the entry deadline for a project to be considered. Make sure that the research plan adequately states the planned work. Focus on detailing the plan of work, and not on historical background information about a field. Be sure to clearly define the work that you/your group plan(s) to do versus work being done by others (teacher/mentor/others in the lab). For projects where it is required, Form 1C must be submitted by the entry deadline for a project to be considered in the Phase I Judging.

The pre-screening starts shortly after the entry deadline and takes about 2 weeks to complete. The results of the screening process are shown on the TNJSF website when they are available, and an email is sent to each student and advisor when the results are finalized.

If a project is not chosen to be exhibited at the Fair, it will still be considered an entry in the Fair, contingent upon SRC approval and Abstract submission. Given final approval, projects excluded from the exhibition phase of the Fair will still be included in the Project List and Project Abstracts on the website. Hence, you can still list your science fair project on college applications, etc. Please note that abstract submission is required for ALL projects, not just those chosen to exhibit.

Exhibition Phase of the Fair and Final Judging

Category Judging at the Fair

Category judging takes place on Friday evening, where each category is assigned a group of judges with a captain. Judging of projects takes place from 7:00 - 9:30 p.m. During this time, judges will meet with students at their project displays and evaluate their work. Each project is judged by a minimum of 3 judges, with only one judge interviewing a student at any given time (i.e. no judging in groups). At 9:30 p.m., the judges reconvene in the judges' room to discuss the projects and determine which projects will be awarded 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd places. Category judging is usually completed by 10:00 p.m.

The category judging follows a common standard for all categories based on the TNJSF judging criteria. To the extent feasible, projects are not placed based on the relative quality within a specific category. As a result, a category may include two projects that can receive the same placement (i.e. two projects can be awarded first place). Similarly, it is not necessary that every category will award a first, second and third place. For example at the discretion of the judging committee, no first place may be awarded based on the quality of projects in that category.

Special Awards Judging at the Fair

Special awards judging takes place on Saturday morning. Judging of projects takes place from 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. During this time, judges will meet with students at their project displays and evaluate their work. At least 2 judges on the award team should see each project under consideration. Special award judges are allowed to judge in groups, if desired. At 12:00 p.m., students may leave, and the judges reconvene in the judges' room to discuss the projects and determine which projects will be awarded. Judging of special awards is usually completed by 1:00 p.m.

The types of special awards range from specific science areas, like the Material Science Award, to more general awards such as the Innovation Award. Hence, projects may be visited by a varying number of judges depending on their eligibility for the different awards. So judges are allowed to conduct interviews in groups.

The ISEF Panel

The ISEF Trip Awards are treated as a special award at the TNJSF, and they are judged by a panel consisting of the captains of the individual category judging teams. This panel seleccts projects to represent the TNJSF at the annual ISEF competition in mid-May.

This judging occurs in two stages. In the morning, the panel selects a group of finalists, usually 12. The finalists are announced at noon or as soon as possible thereafter. The students chosen as finalists then have two additional requirements placed on them:

• They will present their work in a 12-minute slot in the Finalist Symposium (10 minutes for presentation and 2 for questions). The Symposium is open to all students, teachers, and the public. It is NOT part of the judging process (see below). The presentations will be based on the presentation files which the students have submitted as part of the entry process. (Note these presentation files are subject to approval, and must adhere to the same rules as the project displays. The due date for the presentations will be a week or two prior to the fair.)
• During the afternoon, the finalists will be interviewed at their projects by members of the ISEF panel who did not initially talk to them. These interviews may involve multiple judges at once. The finalists will be expected to be at their projects when they are not presenting in the symposium.

After the completion of the finalist interviews, the ISEF panel will reconvene to choose the ISEF Trip Awards, with the restriction that at least one winner is from the junior division (grades 9 and 10).