Deadlines
2024 Fair Dates
ISEF 9-12 Fair March 9 @ CVCC Merritt Hall ~ Awards Ceremony at 3:30 p.m. in person at CVCC
[refer to details below]
Teachers - Please RSVP if you have students interested in participating HERE
Teacher RSVP dates:
High School - 9-12 ISEF Fair - By January 15
5th grade Science Challenge by March 15
6-8th grade Middle School Science Fair by March 15
👉5th-8th Grade Competition 2024 deadlines:
6-8th Grade Project Approval Form - make sure students complete this form prior to conducting research to be eligible for nomination to the regional level.
The following categories of projects are not permitted due to safety and ISEF guidelines for student research at the middle school level:
Bacteria, viruses, fungi,
experimenting with vertebrate animals such as fish, dogs, cats, farm animals, frogs, tadpoles etc.
Research on human subjects is not permitted except when the student researcher shows how a model works.
Observations of professional zoos or wildlife animal webcams are allowed.
November 2023 - April 2024 Schools hold their fairs and recommend their school's regional fair participants.
March 15 - April 10 Parents submit Registration forms to respective teachers, who upload them to assigned Google Drive folders.
The parent form establishes the student's intent to complete a project for the science fair.
5th Grade Parent Form (2024) see details and forms here.
April 30 All project documents are uploaded to teacher - assigned Google Drive Folders
[5th grade: parent guardian permission form, student's 2-3 minute video, diagram or cartoon label showing simple machines used or the experiment set-up. Quad charts are optional]
[6-8th grade: project approval form, student's 2-3 minute video, project quad chart, google slide set or photo of student's project board.]
Template: 6th-8th grade quad chart (make a copy)
May 1st Project folders will be closed at 6:00 p.m. EST
May 8 Teachers are notified that 6-8th grade participants meet Sci Fair criteria for judging,
[Middle School 6-8th Parent Permission Form to attend May 15, 2024 will be emailed to semifinalists.]
May 14 5th Grade Science Fair Challenge Virtual Awards Ceremony 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Google Meet link will be sent to registered students' families.
May 15 6th-8th Grade qualifying participants accompanied by parent or guardian display their project boards for awards judging.
Location: Heritage High School
Time: 3:30 Project check-in and project set-up HHS Cafeteria
Judging & Tours of Central Virginia Governor's School Labs
Awards Ceremony - HHS auditorium (5:45 p.m.) Regional awards & Regional Fair Nominees announced for the National Junior Innovators Challenge
May 16 - 24th Remaining awards will be distributed to the schools
9th -12 Grade ISEF Competition deadlines: (2024)
Start Planning for 2025! We will use a similar timeline.
October 15 - January 15th extension for teachers - please sign up no later than Feb 1st.
Interested students should contact their science teachers as soon as possible so they can notify CVRSF about your interest using the google form [link]
October - February 15, 2024 Projects reviewed by Regional Fair Scientific Review Committee (SRC) and IRB approvals [students check with your science teacher].
Use the current year ISEF forms and rules as you work on your project. 2024 form link is here.
February 1- February 24th by 8:00 p.m. Teachers upload students' required documents for SRC final review using the school's assigned google drive folder.
February 8 Students register for the Fair along with their official project title and category. Registration is now closed.
February 19 Teachers upload final Project Files to assigned School Science Fair Drive Folders (ISEF Forms, Google Slide with Project Title or Png image file of the title, ISEF Abstract template - note our regional categories are not as extensive as the ISEF list. Select the most closely aligned with our regional fair.
February 23 Last day to upload ISEF forms.
February 29 SRC final notifications if forms or documentation need corrections (early submission will allow time for any revisions requested by SRC.)
Last day to upload QUAD charts (see student guidelines)
March 1 All project Google Drive folders locked for judging by 8:00 p. EST. Judges will review project drive folders prior to in-person interviews.
March 9 In-person fair will be hosted by Central Virginia Community College at Merritt Hall.
10:00 -10:30 a.m. Project set-up time
To minimize large groups of participants and judges, the projects will be judged by biological science categories and physical science categories.
Registered participants will be notified which group they will be in to be judged by mid-February. Students will display their project posters following the ISEF poster and display guidelines. See ISEF link here.
Schedule: Two groups will be assigned first-round judging beginning at 10:45 a.m.
(We will have subgroups to ease the spaces between projects during judging. There will be an additional room for students to “wait” for judging)
Lunch will be provided and light snacks Second round of judging for all projects will be after lunch until 2: 30 p.m.
Awards Ceremony Tentative 3:30 p.m. at CVCC will space for participants with additional space for families TBA.
CVRSF will nominate 16 projects for the VSSEF state competition (ODU) and name two ISEF finalists along with category and special awards.
March 11-14 Participant packets with additional awards, and certificates will be distributed to teachers.
Note: Students who are nominated for VSSEF and/or ISEF competitions will be required to include additional documents in order to compete at the next levels.
April 12-13 Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair at Old Dominion University.
Regional ISEF Winners only (12 days after the regional fair, finalists must finish the online application)
April 19, 2024 Last date for our ISEF Finalists to submit ISEF paperwork and ISEF Abstract Rewrites in Finalist Questionnaire.
May 12-17, 2024 Regeneron ISEF 2024 Los Angeles, CA (CVRSF finalists and a teacher will be attending in person. Expenses are paid by the CVRSF)