Updates for Students Seeking to Participate in the 2025 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair

The upcoming Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2025 in Columbus, Ohio will see two student projects from Estonia. As for the 2024 ISEF competition in Los Angeles, Estonia will be sending one student project from the Õpilaste teadustööde riiklik konkurss and a second student project from the Õpilasleiutajate riiklik konkurss.

Saskia Põldmaa, from Õpilaste teadustööde riiklik konkurss (winner at the April 2024 Õpilaste Teadus-Festival) will present her project on cosmic-ray muons which aims to “explore the dependence of muon flux on altitude and find the altitude at which the muon flux reaches the maximum value.” According to her abstract, cosmic-ray muons “are naturally occurring particles with high energy and strong penetration ability, making them crucial for tomography applications in tomography. Understanding the flux of muons as a function of altitude is essential for such purposes.” For context, CT scans are one type of tomography, which “uses a combination of X-rays and computer technology to produce images of the inside of the body,” as explained by the Johns Hopkins University.

The second student (from the Õpilasleiutajate riiklik konkurss) to attend ISEF 2025 with their project will be announced in late November 2024.

In Toronto, Canada, for example, students should apply to the Toronto regional fair first, since students are not allowed to apply to ISEF directly. The Toronto Science Fair (TSF) is open to all students attending Toronto schools.

For Canadian high school students interested in participating in both local Canadian and international ISEF fairs, please note that different countries have their own ways of entering ISEF, all with different submission deadlines. In Toronto, Canada, for example, students should apply to the Toronto regional fair first, since students are not allowed to apply to ISEF directly. The Toronto Science Fair (TSF) is open to all students attending Toronto schools. The upcoming Toronto Science Fair will be held at the University of Toronto, Scarborough in Spring 2025 (the last weekend of March or first weekend of April 2025). According to TSF, “students should have their projects ready for registration in the week before the March Break. Registration is a two step process. Teachers are asked to register their schools in January and February. Links for individual project registration [are] sent to the contact teachers before the March break.”

According to TSF, Toronto schools do not have to hold their own science fair for students to participate in TSF 2025, but (1) students should register through their schools, and (2) each school is expected to have a contact person who will coordinate registration from their schools.

The Toronto Science Fair is affiliated with the Canada Wide Science Fair (CWSF) which means that TSF finalists will be sent to CWSF 2025 in Fredericton, New Brunswick in the first week of June 2025. Students who win a medal at CWSF 2025 then have the opportunity to be chosen to be a candidate for ISEF the following year (2026). Please note that as of October 2024, it is already too late for Toronto students to submit new projects for ISEF 2025 (ISEF 2026 is the earliest possible entry, as described above). More information about Team Canada ISEF participation can be found at youthscience.ca and youthscience.ca/science-fairs/team-canada . ISEF information can be found at: societyforscience.org .

By contrast, students in other parts of North America, such as Orange County in California, may have entirely different project submission dates from the Canadian and Estonian examples listed above. For example, as of autumn 2024, the Orange County Science and Engineering Fair (OCSEF) is accepting student projects put forward by their respective school districts with project registration closing February 3rd, 2025. The individual school districts may have their own school science fairs, but are not obliged to do so. OCSEF project judging will be held on March 12th, 2025 and from the student winners a certain number of student projects will be chosen to participate in ISEF 2025 (May 10th-16th, 2025). OCSEF student winners who move on to the California Science and Engineering Fair (CSEF: April 3rd-5th, 2025) have a second chance to be picked to attend ISEF 2025. This is because both OCSEF and CSEF are officially ISEF-affiliated fairs.

As you can see from the above examples, ISEF participation and local judging dates can vary quite a bit. Obviously, advance planning is very important. As usual, having a school science fair club and qualified adult supervisors is highly recommended.