Fair Application

Registered users can log in and create fair application submissions from the Submissions tab of their home page. You can get to the home page using the main menu and by clicking on the logo in the upper left of all pages. It is the default page after you log in. 

Fair Application Sections

The fair application includes the following sections:

  • General Information
  • Personal Information
  • Project Information
  • Project Presentation
  • ISEF Forms
  • Upload Forms
  • Required Questions

A more detailed discussion of each section is found below. All except the first has a collapsible header that can be clicked to hide or show the section contents.  

The application submission includes a mix of required and optional fields. A submission can be saved at any time using the Save button at the bottom of the form until the Submit button is clicked to submit the application. 

Clicking the Submit button before all required fields are filled in will result in an error message. The Submit button should only be pressed once all desired changes have been made. 

No changes will be allowed once an application is successful Submit. 

A safety review will be done by the Safety Review Committee (SRC) once an application has been submitted. This review will normally be done after the last date that submissions can be made but it may occur earlier. You will be able to see the status of the review in the Submissions tab of your home page. You will be notified if there are any questions or issues. 

These next sections provide more details about the sections within an application. 

General Information

This section has no header and includes the project category, title and school. You can also withdraw an application by clicking on the Withdrawn checkbox and then the Save button. The application is retained and you can change your might by unchecking the checkbox. 

Personal Information

This section include contact information about you and related people involved with the project. This includes your sponsor. You sponsor can be any adult that will oversee you working on your project. This can be a parent, teacher or mentor. With the exception of your name, this information will not be made public but may be given to organizations that provide awards that you may receive. 

Project Information

This section contains details about your project including:

  • Purpose or Hypothesis
  • Research plan
    • completed BEFORE project is finished
    • detailed plan required for (optional) precertification
  • Bibliography
  • Abstract
    • completed AFTER project is finished

Project Presentation

This section includes information about your project for the judges. This section is normally filled in AFTER your project is complete. 

This includes an oveview image that is typically a quad chart. There is a presentation that should provide details about the project from start to finish including results and analysis.

This information will be evaluated by the judges before you are interviewed. Provide as much detail as possible as there is a limited amount of time for the interview which should be used to answer any additional questions the judges may have. 

ISEF Forms

All applications require some ISEF forms. The Rules Wizard can be used to determine which ones are needed. All projects requlre forms 1, 1a and 1b. Additional forms are needed if you need additional oversight for projects that may incorporate people, animals, micro organisms or dangerous materials or procedures. 

The list of forms you need must be made BEFORE you start your project. The selected forms should be completed as much as possible BEFORE you start your project. They should not be filled in after except for certain fields that will be noted on the corresponding form. Contact us if there is any question. In general, these items to fill out after the project are to confirm that the project has been completed properly per your research plan. 

A precertification review (optional) can verify that you have selected the proper forms. 

This section only includes the checkboxes to indicate what forms you will upload in the next section. 

Upload Forms

This section provides the option to upload all forms as one file (usually a multipage PDF or a ZIP file) or as individual files for each form (may be an image file or a PDF). 

The forms to be uploaded are specified in the prior section. All selected forms require a matching upload file. 

Required Questions

Judges like to ask a common set of questions of all participants. This section includes those questions which you should answer in as much detail as possible. Responses can be short or as long as you desire. This helps judges to evaluate your project and your involvement with it. Project specific questions will be posed to you during the interview.