Judge at Regeneron ISEF

Regeneron ISEF 2024 will be held in Los Angeles, CA from May 11-17, 2024. Judging is a day and a half commitment with registration and training on Tuesday, May 14 and judging on Wednesday, May 15 in the Los Angeles Convention Center. By volunteering as a Grand Award Judge, you can play an important role in encouraging the top students from around the world to become the future science and engineering leaders of tomorrow.

More than 1,600 students representing 60+ countries, regions, and territories will be competing for nearly $9 million in awards, scholarships, internships and prizes. These high school students are the top winners of regional, state and national science fairs from around the world. Finalists overwhelmingly say that the most significant interactions that they have at the fair are with the judges. Likewise, judges find their discussions with these outstanding students to be a positive and uplifting experience. Volunteer your time to support these young scientists and engineers and be inspired!

Apply to be a Grand Award Judge at Regeneron ISEF 2024

Apply to be a Grand Award Judge at Regeneron ISEF 2024

Qualifications

A Grand Award Judge must have one of the following qualifications:

  • Have a minimum of six years related professional experience beyond receiving their B.A., B.S., or Master’s degree, OR
  • Have a Ph.D., M.D., or equivalent (D.O., Ed.D., D.D.S., D.V.M., etc.), OR
  • Be a current graduate student with more than four years of doctoral-level research experience or who is within one year of doctoral dissertation defense.

Judges may include university faculty and scientists, industrial engineers and scientists, representatives of private and federal research centers and agencies, medical researchers, post-doctoral fellows, and senior graduate students. Affiliated science fair directors are NOT eligible to serve as Regeneron ISEF judges.

Schedule and Activities Overview

Tuesday, May 14

  • Register at any time between Noon and 5:00 p.m.
  • Meet your colleagues in your category
  • Training
  • Review of display boards without finalists present (until 9:00 p.m.)
  • Dinner

Wednesday, May 15

  • Check-in by 8:00 a.m.
  • Roll Call
  • Breakfast with your category
  • Short category meeting/training
  • Head to Exhibit Hall to begin Judging at 9:30 a.m.
  • Judging interviews (15-minute periods)
  • Breaks during judging
  • Lunch, dinner, and cocktail reception

We will need more than 1,000 Grand Award Judges to give our finalists a great experience! Please sign-up and share the opportunity with your family, friends, and colleagues.

Regeneron ISEF 2024 is an in-person event and we do not have funding to cover the expenses of Grand Award Judges. If you are planning to judge at Regeneron ISEF 2024, please understand this and do not sign up if you cannot cover your own travel and lodging costs. Judging is the most important aspect of Regeneron ISEF and we count on all judges who sign-up to be there.

Judging Criteria

Evaluation criteria that is used for judging at Regeneron ISEF.

Learn More

Categories and Sub-categories

Definitions for the 22 categories of competition.

Learn More

Background Check

As part of the application process, all volunteers and judges will have a background screening completed through Sterling Volunteers, a third-party vendor.

Learn More

Ethics Statement

All Grand Award Judges should note that you will be asked to agree to an Ethics Agreement when submitting your applications. The terms of the Ethics Statement can be found below.

I hereby acknowledge that by submitting this application:

  1. I agree to serve as a judge for the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair 2024.
  2. I agree to act in a positive and ethical manner, treating each student finalist I encounter fairly and respectfully.
  3. I will keep confidential any privileged information obtained through my volunteer service. I will not use such information, nor disclose it to third parties.
  4. I agree to disclose all conflicts of interest resulting from direct competitive, collaborative or other relationships with any of the student finalists.
  5. I acknowledge that I have read and agree to abide by Society for Science’s harassment policy protecting all Regeneron ISEF participants from harassment and sexual harassment by another Regeneron ISEF participant or other person for any reason including, but not limited to: age, national origin, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, ancestry and/or veteran status and understand The Society’s responsibility to investigate claims of violation of the policy.
  6. I agree to notify the Society at judging@societyforscience.org immediately if I become aware of any circumstance that would compromise either (a) my ability to attend the event or (b) fairly evaluate finalists’ projects.
  7. I am aware that I am not permitted to record or take any screenshots throughout the judging process. This is strictly prohibited for Regeneron ISEF 2024.

Special Award Judges

Each year more than 50 professional organizations affiliate with Regeneron ISEF as Special Award Sponsors to provide awards from their respective organizations. Special Award Organizations (SAO’s) recruit their own judges to choose the winners of their awards. Please note that a judge cannot serve as both a Special Award Judge and a Grand Award Judge.

Questions?