RULES, REQUIREMENTS, AND FAQS

 

ELIGIBILITY

• Open to students in grades 9-12 who live in or are enrolled in the St. Louis City or St. Louis County schools (public/private/parochial/home school).
• Open to students in grades 9-12 in St. Louis City or St. Louis County who have first registered their projects in The Academy of Science - St. Louis regional K-12 Science Fair.
• Open to students who have completed advanced-level research and self-select in with teacher recommendation and approval.
• Students may work individually or with one (1) additional student.
• Students must NOT have reached age 20 on or before May 1, 2025.
• Each student is only allowed to enter one (1) project. That project may include no more than 12 months of continuous research and may not include research performed before January 2024.
• Projects that are demonstrations, 'library' research or informational projects, and/or 'explanation' models are not recommended nor appropriate for the Honors Division.

 

COMPLIANCE

As a Society for Science affiliated science fair, all projects in the Honors Division must adhere to all rules set forth by the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and The Academy of Science – St. Louis Science Fair.

Be sure to read and abide by the ISEF Rules as well as The Academy of Science – St. Louis Science Fair Rules listed below.   

See also: Common Reasons for Failing to Qualify to compete at ISEF

 

REGISTRATION

SCHOOLS: Students that wish to pariticpate in the Honors Division must have their teacher register their school before the registration deadline.

STUDENTS: Students that wish to pariticpate in the Honors Division must register their project in both the K-12 Fair and the Honors Division Fair before the registration deadline.

 

PRIOR APPROVALS
IMPORTANT! – Do NOT start your research project until:

1. Your project has been approved by your teacher,
2. ISEF safety forms are completed and signed.

The above steps must be completed BEFORE you begin your research.

Additional Approvals:
Projects involving any of the below need pre-approval by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Scientific Review Committee (SRC) and will require the completion of addtional registration forms.

• Human subjects
• Vertebrate animals
• Potentially hazardous
  biological agents
• Fire/Burning objects

If you are working in an institutional lab, your mentor will sign as the SRC/IRB PRIOR to experimentation.

If you are working in a school or at home, you science teacher will sign as the IRB Prior to experimentation. The teacher will head up a school IRB which will consist of the science teacher, a school administrator (principal or vice principal) and a medical or mental health professional (which may be a medical doctor, nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant, doctor, registered nurse, psychologist, licensed social worker). The medical or mental health professional on the IRB may change depending on the nature of the study. This person must be knowledgeable about and capable of evaluating the physical and/or psychological risk involved in a given study.

IMPORTANT!: AFTER IRB APPROVAL AT THE SCHOOL OR LAB, all projects COMPLETED AT HOME OR IN A SCHOOL INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS OR VERTEBRATE ANIMALS NEED THE APPROVAL OF THE SRC PRIOR TO EXPERIMENTATION.

OTHER SCIENCE FAIRS
Students may compete in only one (1) ISEF affiliated fair per year. Students entering The Academy of Science – St. Louis Science Fair may NOT also enter a Science Fair in a neighboring community that is also ISEF affiliated. For example, if you enter The Academy of Science – St. Louis Science Fair, you may NOT also compete in the Mastodon Science Fair or other science fairs. See https://findafair.societyforscience.org/  for a list of ISEF affiliated fairs.

# OF PROJECTS
Students may only submit 1 project to The Academy of Science – St. Louis Science Fair.

RESEARCH PERIOD
Each project must cover research done over a maximum of 12 continuous months between January 2024 and January 2025.

CONTINUATION/RESEARCH PROGRESSION PROJECTS
Students who have competed in prior years must submit a new and different research project each year. If the current project is in a similar area of research as any previous project of the student, it is considered a continuation project and you will need to complete Continuation/Research Progression Projects Form (7)  as part of your registration forms.

TEAM PROJECTS
IMPORTANT FOR 2025: A maximum of two (2) Academy of Science – St. Louis Science Fair Honors Division students may work together on any one (1) project. Any award funds that are allocated to a team project will be evenly distributed between teammates. Any team project that is chosen to move on to ISEF may only choose one (1) student representative to attend ISEF.

EYE PROTECTION
Safety glasses must be used for any experiments if any kind of splash or particles may come in contact with your eyes.

VACCINATION REQUIREMENTS
IMPORTANT FOR 2025: Regeneron ISEF 2025 will be a fully in-person event held in Columbus, Ohio, from May 10-16, 2025. All attendees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to attend Regeneron ISEF 2025. Vaccines must be FDA or US Department of State approved, and the last dose in the series must have been received no later than 2 weeks prior to the start of Regeneron ISEF. All Academy of Science Science Fair Honors Division entrants are required to be eligible to attend ISEF 2025 and will be required to be vaccinated againt COVID-19 to be eligible for an invitation to compete at Regeneron ISEF 2025.

HUMAN STUDIES

• Projects studying bullying/depression/anxiety will NOT be allowed.
  Instead, student may submit in the K-12 Division ONLY, a Research Literature Review paper where students can study RELIABLE DATA. NO SURVEY or INTERVIEWING of students will be allowed regarding bullying/depression/anxiety.
• No projects allowed that can cause potential harm to humans.
• Human subjects (and parents for anyone under age 18) need to sign a Human Informed Consent Form – (Click here for sample).
• Students need to provide teacher with research plan prior to experimentation.

ANIMALS
No animals (this includes invertebrates) should be harmed or caused pain.

BACTERIA/MOLD
Projects that handle, test, or sample bacteria and/or mold will be allowed for Honors Divsion.

VIRUSES
Projects will NOT be allowed that handle, test, or sample viruses. Students may submit instead a Research Literature Review Paper in the K-12 Division Fair (research literature review papers are NOT an eligible project type to compete in ISEF) where students study reliable data. Again, NO handling, sampling or testing of viruses allowed. NO testing water fountains, door handles, cell phones, etc.

POWER TOOLS
Power tools may be used by the Honors Division student with the supervision of a parent/guardian or teacher.

NO GUNS/DRUGS ALCOHOL
NO experiments will be allowed using firearms. No guns or firearms or bow and arrows of any kind. No Nerf guns or Nerf bow and arrows. No slingshots. Experiments using prescription drugs, illegal drugs or alcohol will NOT be allowed.

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs):

Q. May I upload videos?
A. NO videos will be accepted.

Q. May I list my name and/or the name of my school in my upload (PowerPoint or log book)?
A. NO student or school names should be included.

Q. May I have pictures of faces in my upload (PowerPoint or logbook)?
A. NO pictures of faces should be included in your upload.

Q.  May I upload a Google doc?
A.  NO (Download the Google doc to your desktop as a PDF document, then upload the PDF)

Q.  May I submit a research literature review paper instead of a PowerPoint presentation?
A.  YES, but you may only compete in the General K-12 Fair. Research Literature Review Papers are not an eligible project type to compete in the Academy's Honors Division, nor at ISEF. 

 

Questions?

Contact your science teacher or email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it