Special Award Judges
ISEF Special Award Judges judge and award ISEF finalists on behalf of their organization
Click Here to Access the Special Award Contact Administrative Portal
- Special Award Organization Judging process and tips
- Special Award Ceremony Schedule and Presenter Instructions
- Learn more about becoming a Special Award Organization
Each year more than 50 professional organizations, representing government, industry and education across a wide variety of scientific disciplines, affiliate with ISEF as Special Award Sponsors to provide awards from their respective organizations to the nearly 1800 students attending ISEF.
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.
We recommend that each Special Award Organization provide a minimum of 3 judges, although the number of judges per organization varies with the scope of the awards to be given and the number of Finalists to be interviewed. Coordinators of Special Awards should keep in mind that judging at ISEF takes place over a relatively short period of time and a sufficient number of judges will make selecting winners a less arduous task.
Special Award Judges receive criteria and coordination instruction through the organization they are representing, and through its designated judging team leader. This team leader is responsible for establishing final assignments of their judges.
SSP assists with pre-fair coordination of Special Award Organizations and their judges by supplying information on housing, travel, and other pertinent fair information. Contact Diane Rashid at 202-785-2255 for more information.