The Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) is an annual science fair in the United States. It is owned and administered by the

Society for Science Society for Science, formerly known as Science Service and later Society for Science and the Public, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of science, through its science education programs and publications, including ...

, a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

based in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Each May, more than 1500 students from roughly 70 countries and territories compete in the fair for scholarships, tuition

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, internships, scientific field trips and the grand prizes, including one $75,000 and two $50,000 college scholarships. All prizes together amount to over $5,000,000. Two awards ceremonies are held including: Special Awards Organization Presentation (which now includes the Government Awards Presentations) and the Grand Awards Ceremony. The International Science and Engineering Fair was founded in 1950 by Science Service (now the Society for Science) and was sponsored by

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

from 1997 to 2019. Since 2020,

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an American biotechnology company headquartered in Westchester County, New York. The company was founded in 1988. Originally focused on neurotrophic factors and their regenerative capabilities, giving rise to i ...

is the title sponsor for ISEF, but the event that year was cancelled and replaced with an online version due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Notable alumni

ISEF alumni include: * Richard Zare (1957): American chemist who won the National Medal of Science in 1983 * James Gunn (1957): Astronomer and MacArthur Fellow who won the National Medal of Science in 2008 * John Clauser (1959 & 1960): American theoretical and experimental

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

who won the

Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

in 2022 *

Paul Modrich Paul Lawrence Modrich (born June 13, 1946) is an American biochemist, James B. Duke Professor of Biochemistry at Duke University and Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is known for his research on DNA mismatch repair. Modri ...

(1964): American biochemist who won the

Nobel Prize in Chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...

in 2015 * Susan Solomon (1972): Atmospheric chemist who won the National Medal of Science in 1999 *

Kristina M. Johnson Kristina M. Johnson (born May 7, 1957) is an American business executive, engineer, academic, and former government official who served as the 13th chancellor of the State University of New York from September 2017 until June 2020. In June 202 ...

(1975): SUNY Chancellor *

Dianne Newman Dianne Newman is a molecular microbiologist, a professor in the Division of Biology and Biological Engineering and the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences at California Institute of Technology. Her research interests include bioenerget ...

(1987): Microbiologist *

Vamsi Mootha Vamsi K. Mootha is an Indian-born American physician-scientist and computational biologist. He is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Professor of Systems Biology and Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Investigator in the D ...

(1989): Mitochondrial biologist 2004 MacArthur Fellow * Feng Zhang (2000): CRISPR researcher *

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of th ...

(2007): United States Congresswoman *

Alex Deans Alexander Deans (born May 1, 1997) is a Canadian-British inventor. At age 12, he created the "iAid", a navigation device for the blind which won the 2013 Canada-Wide Science Fair in the intermediate category and several awards at the 2014 Intel ...

(2013): Inventor

Contestants and competition

Contestants are selected from regional, district, and state ISEF affiliated fairs. These fairs usually encompass multiple states or entire regions of a country. The regional fair committee is responsible for managing the fair when their city hosts the event. Individual science projects and team science projects both compete for prizes. Teams are composed of two to as many as four high school students (grades 9-12). The structure of the competition is as follows: * Sunday: Arrival, project setup, fixing Display and Safety violations, and pin exchange * Monday: Continual arrival and setup, opening ceremony * Tuesday: Final project clearance * Wednesday: Awards judging over 3 sessions, with both scheduled and unscheduled interviews * Thursday: Public visitation day, special awards ceremony * Friday: Grand awards ceremony, project teardown Additionally, time is set aside for students to experience the host city, with ISEF coordinating signups for various tours and activities. A significant component of the program is social, as students interact with each other during mixers and ceremonies. Throughout much of the week, various seminars are also held for students, mentors, and teachers. Projects and judging are divided into 21 subject categories as follows: * Animal Sciences * Behavioral and Social Sciences * Biochemistry * Biomedical and Health Sciences * Biomedical Engineering * Cellular and Molecular Biology * Chemistry * Computational Biology and Bioinformatics * Earth and Environmental Sciences * Embedded Systems * Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design * Engineering Technology: Statics and Dynamics * Environmental Engineering * Materials Science * Mathematics * Microbiology * Physics and Astronomy * Plant Sciences * Robotics and Intelligent Machines * Systems Software * Translational Medical Science

Prizes and honors

* George Yancopoulos Innovator Award: $75,000 scholarship, given to the top of the Best of Category Award winners, selected on the basis of innovative research and potential of the project to have an impact in the particular field and the world as a whole. *

Regeneron Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an American biotechnology company headquartered in Westchester County, New York. The company was founded in 1988. Originally focused on neurotrophic factors and their regenerative capabilities, giving rise to i ...

Young Scientist Award: $50,000 award presented by Regeneron and SSP to two Best in Category projects. Previous winners include Henry Lin and Eesha Khare. * The

Gordon E. Moore Gordon Earle Moore (born January 3, 1929) is an American businessman, engineer, and the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Intel Corporation. He is also the original proponent of Moore's law. As of March 2021, Moore's net worth is report ...

Award for Positive Outcomes for Future Generations: In recognition of Gordon E. Moore’s continued legacy of honoring the best at the International Science and Engineering Fair, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is providing the $50,000 for the award. *

Dudley R. Herschbach Dudley Robert Herschbach (born June 18, 1932) is an American chemist at Harvard University. He won the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry jointly with Yuan T. Lee and John C. Polanyi "for their contributions concerning the dynamics of chemical elemen ...

SIYSS Award: all expense trip paid trip to the

Stockholm International Youth Science Seminar Stockholm International Youth Science Seminar (SIYSS) is an annual weeklong event for young international scientists, arranged in connection with the Nobel festivities by the SIYSS Committee of the Swedish Federation of Young Scientists. The histor ...

, and attendance to the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

ceremonies. *

Craig R. Barrett Craig R. Barrett (born August 29, 1939) is an American business executive who served as the chairman of the board of Intel Corporation until May 2009. He became CEO of Intel in 1998, a position he held for seven years. After retiring from Int ...

Award for Innovation: A $10,000 award given to the finalist who best demonstrates an innovation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, recognizing that research and innovation are dependent on the integration of these disciplines, as well as the impact they collectively have on our everyday lives * H. Robert Horvitz Prize for Fundamental Research: $10,000 is given to the project that represents the best in fundamental research that furthers our understanding of science and/or mathematics and promotes the understanding of natural phenomena without clearly defined applications towards processes or products in mind. * Peggy Scripps Award for Science Communication: A $10,000 award honoring Peggy Scripps who was a science journalist who served as a writer and editor of Science Newsletter for many years. This award is given to the finalist who is best able to communicate their project to the lay public, explaining both the science and its potential impact on society. * Intel ''International Excellence in Teaching Award'' is also given during the Intel ISEF since 1997. A prominent awardee was

Josette Biyo Dr. Josette T. Biyo (née Talamera; born 1958) is a Filipinos, Filipino educator and former executive director of the Philippine Science High School System. She has received international recognition for her contributions to science and education. ...

. ISEF also used to hold a "People's Choice Award" to allow the public to vote for its favorite entries. Since 2001, MIT's

Lincoln Laboratory The MIT Lincoln Laboratory, located in Lexington, Massachusetts, is a United States Department of Defense federally funded research and development center chartered to apply advanced technology to problems of national security. Research and dev ...

has named asteroids after ISEF winners as part of the

Ceres Connection The Ceres Connection is a cooperative program between MIT's Lincoln Laboratory and the Society for Science and the Public dedicated to promoting science education. It names asteroids discovered under the LINEAR project after teachers and contesti ...

. Multiple organizations sponsor 'special awards' with their own distinct criteria. These organizations include the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...

Association for Computing Machinery The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a US-based international learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 and is the world's largest scientific and educational computing society. The ACM is a non-profit professional member ...

IEEE Foundation The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operati ...

, and Patent and Trademark Office Society.

Finalist Medal

The Regeneron ISEF Finalist Medal is given to about 1800 students from 75 countries each year, which are participating at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, which is owned and administered by the

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based in Washington, DC. Each year about 7 million students participate in different regional, district, and state ISEF affiliated fairs. Some of the winners of these affiliated fairs, which exist in over 75 countries, get the chance to take part at the Regeneron ISEF as a finalist, and each of them is awarded Regeneron ISEF Finalist Medal. In 2013 there were 1611 finalists at the Intel ISEF in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. The medal has a diameter of 48 mm and is golden galvanized. The obverse shows the official logo of the Regeneron ISEF, the reverse shows the year of participation and the location of that year's Regeneron ISEF. The ribbon bar is blue with a width of 40 mm and has a golden romanic 1 in the middle.

Top prize winners

When Intel began sponsoring ISEF in 1997, the Grand Awards were replaced with the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards, awarded to the top three projects. In 2010, the top award was renamed for Intel co-founder

. ;ISEF 1997 (Louisville, Kentucky) * Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards ** Scott Nicholas Sanders (Coral Springs, FL) ** Logan Joseph Kleinwaks (Reston, VA) ** Karen Mendelson (Worcester, MA) ;ISEF 1998 (Fort Worth, Texas) * Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards ** James Warner Lawler (Greenwich, CT) ** Jonathan Adam Kelner (Old Westbury, NY) ** Geoffrey Robert Schmidt (Little Rock, AR) * Pinnacle Awards ** Chad Ganske, Amit Barman and Jonathan Haines (Winchester, VA) ** Heather Matthews and Twila Paterson (Colorado Springs, CO) ;ISEF 1999 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) * Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards ** Jennifer Lynn Pelka (Orlando, FL) ** Nisha Nagarkatti (Blacksburg, VA) ** Feng Zhang (Des Moines, IA) ;ISEF 2000 (Detroit, Michigan) * Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards ** Nazanin Jouei (Coral Springs, FL) ** Karen Kay Powell (Fort Pierce, FL) ** Jason L. Douglas (Milford, OH) ;ISEF 2001 (San Jose, California) * Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards ** Ryan Randall Patterson (Grand Junction, CO) ** Monika Paroder (Brooklyn, NY) ** Francis Boulva (Town of Mount-Royal, Canada) ;ISEF 2002 (Louisville, Kentucky) * Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards ** Naveen Neil Sinha (Los Alamos, NM) ** Alexander C. Mittal (Cos Cob, CT) **

Nina Vasan Nina Vasan (born January 27, 1984) is an American psychiatrist and author of the Amazon #1 best-selling book ''Do Good Well: Your Guide to Leadership, Action and Innovation''. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry ...

(Vienna, WV) ;ISEF 2003 (Cleveland, Ohio) *Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards ** Lisa Doreen Glukhovsky (New Milford, CT) ** Elena Leah Glassman (Pipersville, PA) ** Anila Madiraju (Brossard, Canada) ;ISEF 2004 (Portland, Oregon) * Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards ** Sarah Rose Langberg (Fort Myers, FL) ** Uwe Treske (Grafenhainichen, Germany) ** Yuanchen Zhu (Shanghai, China) ;ISEF 2005 (Phoenix, Arizona) * Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards ** Gabrielle Alyce Gianelli (Orlando, FL) ** Stephen Schulz (Gelsenkirchen, Germany) ** Ameen Abdulrasool (Chicago, IL) ;ISEF 2006 (Indianapolis, Indiana) * Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards ** Hannah Louise Wolf (Allentown, PA) ** Madhavi Pulakat Gavini (Starkville, MS) ** Meredith Ann MacGregor (Boulder, CO) ;ISEF 2007 (Albuquerque, New Mexico) * Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards ** Dayan Li (Greenbelt, MD) ** Philip Vidal Streich (Platteville, WI) ** Dmitry Vaintrob (Eugene, OR) ;ISEF 2008 (Atlanta, Georgia) * Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards ** Sana Raoof (Muttontown, NY) ** Natalie Saranga Omattage (Cleveland, MS) ** Yi-Han Su (Taipei, Taiwan) ;ISEF 2009 (Reno, Nevada) * Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards ** Tara Adiseshan (Charlottesville, VA) ** Li Boynton (Houston, TX) ** Olivia Schwob (Boston, MA) ;ISEF 2010 (San Jose, California) * Gordon E. Moore Award: Amy Chyao (Richardson, TX) * Young Scientist Award: Kevin Ellis (Vancouver, WA) * Young Scientist Award: Yale Fan (Beaverton, OR) ;ISEF 2011 (Los Angeles, California) * Gordon E. Moore Award: Matthew Feddersen and Blake Marggraff (Lafayette, CA) * Young Scientist Award: Pornwasu Pongtheerawan, Arada Sungkanit and Tanpitcha Phongchaipaiboon (Suratthani, Thailand) * Young Scientist Award: Taylor Wilson (Reno, NV) ;ISEF 2012 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) * Gordon E. Moore Award: Jack Thomas Andraka (Glen Burnie, MD) * Young Scientist Award: Nicholas Benjamin Schiefer (Ontario, Canada) * Young Scientist Award: Ari Misha Dyckovsky (Sterling, VA) ;ISEF 2013 (Phoenix, Arizona) * Gordon E. Moore Award: Ionut Budisteanu (Ramnicu Valcea, Romania) * Young Scientist Award: Eesha Khare (Saratoga, CA) * Young Scientist Award: Henry Lin (Shreveport, LA) ;ISEF 2014 (Los Angeles, California) * Gordon E. Moore Award: Nathan Han (Boston, MA) * Young Scientist Award: Lennart Kleinwort (Wurzburg, Germany) * Young Scientist Award: Shannon Winjing Lee (Singapore) ;ISEF 2015 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) * Gordon E. Moore Award: Raymond Wang (Vancouver, Canada) * Young Scientist Award: Nicole Ticea (Vancouver, Canada) * Young Scientist Award: Karan Jerath (Friendswood, TX) ;ISEF 2016 (Phoenix, Arizona) * Gordon E. Moore Award: Han Jie (Austin) Wang (Vancouver, Canada) * Young Scientist Award: Syamantak Payra (Friendswood, TX) * Young Scientist Award: Kathy Liu (Salt Lake City, UT) ;ISEF 2017 (Los Angeles, California) * Gordon E. Moore Award: Ivo Zell (Hessen, Germany) * Young Scientist Award: Valerio Pagliarino (Castelnuovo Calcea, Italy) * Young Scientist Award: Amber Yang (Windermere, FL) ;ISEF 2018 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) * Gordon E. Moore Award: Oliver Nicholls (Sydney, Australia) * Young Scientist Award: Meghana Bollimpalli (Little Rock, AR) * Young Scientist Award: Dhruvik Parikh (Bothell, WA) ;ISEF 2019 (Phoenix, Arizona) * Gordon E. Moore Award: Krithik Ramesh (Greenwood Village, CO) * Young Scientist Award: Allison Sihan Jia (San Jose, CA) * Young Scientist Award: Rachel Seevers (Lexington, KY) * Craig R. Barrett Award for Innovation : Shriya Reddy (Northville, MI) ;ISEF 2020 (Anaheim, California) * Cancelled due to the

and replaced with a virtual fair. Because some qualifier events did not name winners, the fair was not judged and prizes were not awarded. ;ISEF 2021 (VIRTUAL) * George D. Yancopoulos Innovator Award: Michelle Hua (Troy, MN) * Young Scientist Award: Catherine Kim (Jericho, NY) * Young Scientist Award: Daniel Shen (Cary, NC) * Gordon E. Moore Award for Positive Outcomes for Future Generations: John Benedict Estrada (Fresno, CA) * Craig R. Barrett Award for Innovation: Arya Tschand (Marlboro, NJ) * H. Robert Horvitz Prize for Fundamental Research: Neha Mani (Bronx, NY) * Peggy Scripps Award for Science Communication: Franklin Wang (Palo Alto, CA) ;ISEF 2022 (Atlanta, Georgia) * George D. Yancopoulos Innovator Award: Robert Sansone (Fort Pierce, FL) * Young Scientist Award: Rishab Jain (Portland, OR) * Young Scientist Award: Abdullah Al-Ghamdi (Dammam, Saudi Arabia) * Gordon E. Moore Award for Positive Outcomes for Future Generations: Chris Tidtijumreonpon, Napassorn Litchiowong & Wattanapong Uttayota (Chiang Mai, Thailand) * Craig R. Barrett Award for Innovation: Amon Schumann (Berlin, Germany) * H. Robert Horvitz Prize for Fundamental Research: Rebecca Cho (Jericho, NY) * Peggy Scripps Award for Science Communication: Anika Puri (Chappaqua, NY)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Annual fairs Science competitions Youth science Society for Science & the Public Science and Engineering Fair Fairs in the United States