Senior High Information

The Alaska Science & Engineering Fair is open to all Alaskan senior high school students. There is no limit to the number of students that a school can send to the Alaska Science & Engineering Fair.

The Alaska Science & Engineering Fair is affiliated with the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and follows its rules and regulations.

SRC Approval Required for Some Senior High Projects

All students are required to have the appropriate paperwork filled out and signed BEFORE experimentation begins. Some senior high projects require Scientific Review Committee (SRC) approval. Your teacher or adult sponsor should contact us with any questions about which forms/signatures are needed.

The following resource at the ISEF site helps you avoid SRC problems:

• Most Common Reasons for Projects to Fail to Qualify at Intel ISEF

Rules and Guidelines

Senior high projects for the Alaska Science & Engineering Fair must follow the rules of the International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF):

• ISEF Rules – The published ISEF Rules.

The following resource helps you understand and follow the rules:

• The ISEF Rules Wizard – Asks questions about your planned project and tells you which forms you need to complete!

It also helps to know what the judges are looking for in your project:

• Judging Guidelines and Evaluation Rubric for the Alaska Fair

Further resources:

• The Society for Science ISEF website
• How to write an ISEF abstract

Abstract Contest

Senior High projects are required to have two copies of a written abstract: One goes into the project portfolio and the other is collected at Registration for the special category Abstract Contest.

• Read more about the ASEF Abstract Contest
• ASEF (local) Abstract Contest Entry Form. Staple the local contest form to the front of a second copy of your completed ISEF abstract form. Use the ISEF abstract form for both your portfolio abstract and the second copy you submit for the abstract contest. 

Required Forms & ISEF Rules Wizard

The Alaska Science and Engineering Fair does not provide any Alaska specific forms besides the ASEF Abstract Contest Entry Form. Instead we use the forms provided by the International Science and Engineering Fair. 

The easiest way to determine the correct forms to fill out is to use the ISEF Rules Wizard which will walk you through several questions about your project and determine the forms you will need to use for your project.

You can also find all of the available ISEF forms on the ISEF Forms Webpage. 

Related Science Competitions

Are you doing a water- or biotech-related project? You may be able to enter your senior high project in more than one competition. Enter your project in the Alaska Science and Engineering Fair and also:

• For water-related projects, enter the competition for the prestigious Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP).
• For biotech-related projects, see the Biotechnology Institute BioGENEius Challenges.

You can use items such as glass tubing, vinegar, tissue, and plant soil during your research, but please don’t bring such items to the science fair. Take pictures of them! Put the pictures on your display.

Do you need these “unsafe” items at the science fair? No! Do your project ahead of time. At the science fair, describe what you did. The judges care that you can express your understanding of your project; they do not need you to reproduce the work in front of them.

Objects like these belong in a picture on your display board. Do not bring them to the science fair.