The Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) is an annual

science fair A science fair or engineering fair is an event hosted by a school that offers students the opportunity to experience the practices of science and engineering for themselves. In the United States, the Next Generation Science Standards makes ex ...

in the United States. It is owned and administered by the Society for Science, a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), 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 ...

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

based in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Each May, more than 1800 students from roughly 75 countries and territories compete in the fair for

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

s, tuition

grants Grant or Grants may refer to: People * Grant (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Grant (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters ** Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), the 18th president of the U ...

internships An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...

, scientific

field trip A field trip or excursion is a journey by a group of associated peers, such as coworkers or school students, to a place away from their normal environment for the purpose of education or leisure, either within their country or abroad. When ar ...

s and the grand prizes, including one $75,000 and two $50,000 college scholarships. All prizes together amount to over $8,000,000. Two major awards ceremonies are the Special Awards Organization Presentation (which now includes the Government Awards Presentations) and the Grand Awards Ceremony.

History

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, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

from 1997 to 2019. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals became the title sponsor for ISEF in 2020, but the event was cancelled that year and replaced with an online version due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The 2021 ISEF was a fully virtual event while 2022 was held online and in-person in Atlanta, GA, and 2023 was in person in Dallas, TX. The 2024 and 2025 ISEF were held in person in Los Angeles, CA and Columbus, OH respectively.

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). In addition to the judging of projects and an open session for the public to view them, there is time set aside for students to experience the host city with 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

seminar A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some part ...

s are also held for students, mentors and teachers. Projects and judging are divided into 22 subject categories.

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 Young Scientist Awards
$50,000 awards presented by Regeneron and SSP to two Best in Category projects. Previous winners include Henry Lin and Eesha Khare. * Th
Gordon E. Moore 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 SIYSS Award
all expense trip paid trip to the Stockholm International Youth Science Seminar, and attendance to the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

ceremonies.
Craig R. Barrett 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.
EU Contest for Young Scientists Award
an all-expense-paid trip enables attendance at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists located in a new city each year. ISEF used to hold a "People's Choice Award" to allow the public to vote for its favorite entries. Since 2001,

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

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

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an 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, collection, and proces ...

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 membe ...

, IEEE Foundation, and

Patent and Trademark Office Society The Patent and Trademark Office Society (PTOS) is an American society of intellectual property professionals. The society publishes a quarterly journal, the '' Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society'' (JPTOS). History Founded in 19 ...

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 Society for Science, a

based in Washington, D.C. 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 ( ) 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 over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. 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.

Notable alumni

ISEF alumni include: * Richard Zare (1957): American

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

who won the

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral science, behavior ...

in 1983 *

James Gunn James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an American filmmaker. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with ''Tromeo and Juliet'' (1996). He then began working as a director, starting wi ...

(1957): Astronomer and MacArthur Fellow who won the National Medal of Science in 2008 * John Clauser (1959 & 1960): American theoretical and

experimental physicist Experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines in the field of physics that are concerned with the observation of physical phenomena and experiments. Methods vary from discipline to discipline, from simple experiments and o ...

who won the

Nobel Prize in Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...

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. Mod ...

(1964): American

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

who won the

Nobel Prize in Chemistry The Nobel Prize in Chemistry () is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outst ...

in 2015 * Susan Solomon (1972): Atmospheric chemist who won the National Medal of Science in 1999 * Kristina M. Johnson (1975): SUNY Chancellor * Dianne Newman (1987):

Microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...

* Vamsi Mootha (1989): Mitochondrial

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

2004 MacArthur Fellow * Feng Zhang (2000):

CRISPR CRISPR (; acronym of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a family of DNA sequences found in the genomes of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria and archaea. Each sequence within an individual prokaryotic CRISPR is d ...

researcher * Lester Mackey (2003): Computer Scientist, 2023 MacArthur Fellow *

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (born October 13, 1989), also known as AOC, is an American politician and activist who has served since 2019 as the United States House of Representatives, US representative for New York's 14th congressional distric ...

(2007): United States Congresswoman * Alex Deans (2013):

Inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

* Eesha Khare (2013): Inventor

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 Gordon E. Moore. ;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 (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, MI) * 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) ;ISEF 2023 (Dallas, Texas) * George D. Yancopoulos Innovator Award: Kaitlyn Wang (San José, CA) * Young Scientist Award: Saathvik Kannan (Columbia, MO) * Young Scientist Award: Teepakorn Keawumdee, Pannathorn Siri, & Poon Trakultagmun (Bangkok, Thailand) * Gordon E. Moore Award for Positive Outcomes for Future Generations: Natasha Kulviwat (Jericho, NY) * Craig R. Barrett Award for Innovation: Yuyang Wang (Shanghai, China) * H. Robert Horvitz Prize for Fundamental Research: Rishabh Ranjan & Gopalaniruddh Tadinada (Louisville, KY) * Peggy Scripps Award for Science Communication: Eugene Chen (Shanghai, China) ;ISEF 2024 (Los Angeles, California) * George D. Yancopoulos Innovator Award: Grace Sun (Lexington, KY) * Gordon E. Moore Award for Positive Outcomes for Future Generations: Justin Huang, Victoria Ou (The Woodlands, TX) * Craig R. Barrett Award for Innovation: Ingrid Chan (The Peak, Hong Kong) * Young Scientist Award: Michelle Wei (San Jose, CA) * H. Robert Horvitz Prize for Fundamental Research: Tanishka Aglave (Dover, FL) * Peggy Scripps Award for Science Communication: Maddux Springer (Honolulu, HI)

References

External links

*
ISEF Awards

Society for Science: 100 Years of Impact
{{Authority control Annual fairs Science competitions Youth science Society for Science & the Public Science and Engineering Fair Fairs in the United States

History

Contestants and competition

Prizes and honors

Finalist Medal

Notable alumni

Top prize winners

See also

References

External links