Rules & Eligibility

Contents

Eligibility

1. 1. Students must be in grades 5-8 (or equivalent for homeschooled students). While a student in grade 5 can place in their category, only students in grades 6-8 can be considered for Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, the national competition for middle school science fairs. The Coding with Commitment, Lemelson Young Inventor, and DoD STEM Leadership awards are only available to students in grades 6-8.

   2. Students must live in Maine or attend a school in Maine. Written exception can be given to students from a state or region that does not have a JIC-Affiliated fair. Students participating in MMSSEF may not participate in any other JIC-affiliated fair. Violating this rule will result in disqualification.

   3. Individual and team projects are eligible. Teams can have a maximum of three students for the project to qualify. Contact the MMSSEF Team if you would like to discuss an exception to this rule. See Section IV: Team Projects for more information. 

   4. Research conducted and presented at the Fair must have been properly supervised and approved according to the guidelines set forth by MMSSEF and must be in compliance with all local, state, and national laws and regulations. See Section V: Science Fair Registration for more information. 

Project Requirements & Deadlines 

2. 1. Each student may submit only one project. 

   2. Each student/team is required to complete all sections of the online application, which includes:

      • Permission Form (REQUIRED – Due March 1)

      • Research Plan (REQUIRED – Due March 1 for certain projects and April 18 for all others - see below)

      • 250-word Abstract (REQUIRED – Due April 18)

   3. Projects that involve certain activities may need to complete additional forms and submit them by March 1 for pre-approval. See Section V: Science Fair Registration for more information. 

   4. Each project should only include up to one year’s work and cannot have been previously entered in MMSSEF without meeting the continuation criteria. Projects that build on prior research must document that the additional research is a substantive expansion from prior work (e.g. testing a new variable or new line of investigation). Repetition of previous experimentation with the same methodology and research question, even with an increased sample size, is an example of an unacceptable continuation. 

   5. Each student/team must submit their entry by the final submission deadline of April 18.

Ethics Statement 

Student researchers, as well as adults who have a role in their projects, are expected to maintain the highest ethical standards. These include, but are not limited to: 

• Integrity. Honesty, objectivity, and avoidance of conflicts of interest are expected during every phase of the research. The project should reflect independent research done by the student(s) and represent only one year’s work. If you use Artificial Intelligence, you must use it responsibly and not present work done by AI as your own.

• Legality. Compliance with all federal, country, state and local laws is essential. All projects must be approved by a Scientific Review Committee (SRC), and when necessary must also be approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB), Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), and/or Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC).

• Respect for Confidentiality and Intellectual Property. Confidential communications, as well as patents, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual property must be honored. Unpublished data, methods, or results may not be used without permission, and credit must be given to all contributions to research. 

• Stewardship of the Environment. It is the responsibility of the researcher(s) and the adults involved to protect the environment and its organisms from harm. All projects involve some amount of risk. Everyone is expected to recognize the hazards, assess the risks, minimize them, and prepare for emergencies. 

• Animal Care. Proper care and respect must be given to vertebrate animals. The guiding principles for the use of animals in research includes the following “Four R’s”: Replace, Reduce, Refine, Respect. 

• Human Participant Protection. The highest priority is the health and well-being of the student researcher(s) and human participants. 

• Potentially Hazardous Biological Agents (PHBAs). It is the responsibility of the student and adults involved in the project to conduct and document a risk assessment, and to safely handle and dispose of organisms and materials. 

Scientific fraud and misconduct are not condoned at any level of research or competition. This includes plagiarism, forgery, use or presentation of other researcher’s work as one’s own and fabrication of data. Fraudulent projects will fail to qualify for competition in MMSSEF. MMSSEF reserves the right to revoke recognition of a project subsequently found to have been fraudulent. 

The student and parent or guardian agree to this ethics statement by signing the Permission form found in the application. 

Team Projects

• Students can work individually or in teams with two or three members. Contact the MMSSEF Team to discuss an exception to this rule.

• Each member of a team must register with parental permission.

• Project materials (research plan, abstract, etc.) only need to be submitted once for each project.

• Each team member should plan to participate in interviews with judges.

Visual Aid Guidelines

Each project needs a Visual Aid. The Visual Aid is for students to show any photos, charts, and tables related to their materials/methods, research data, and/or analysis used to support the findings of the project. Visual Aids must follow the guidelines below:

• The recommended format is the Quad Chart. A Quad Chart template is available here. This can be used to print on a large-format printer or as a tool to plan the layout for a handmade visual aid. To create your own copy, go to File>Make a Copy. You can also download the template as a PowerPoint file by going to File>Download.

• A large visual aid is recommended. Two common sizes are 24” tall × 36” wide and 36” tall × 48” wide. Guidelines:

  • The visual aid must stand on its own on a table. Students are advised to bring their own tabletop easels or use freestanding posters such as trifold boards.

  • The visual aid must be no larger than 48” wide by 48” tall. 

  • Handmade posters are allowed and encouraged. Students can glue printed text and graphics onto sections of a poster board. 

• The following are not allowed within your visual aid: 

  • Active hyperlinks to websites with additional information about your project. 

  • Any videos or audio embedded within the Visual Aid.

  • Any identifiable photographs of yourself and/or any human subjects. Photographs, where faces are digitally blurred or covered, are acceptable. 

• Students may provide additional items with their display, such as a lab notebook or props. Please view the list of banned and restricted items below. When in doubt, contact the MMSSEF team to see if an item is allowed on display.

• NOT ALLOWED at display:

  • Living organisms

  • Human or animal waste

  • Taxidermy specimens or parts

  • Preserved vertebrate or invertebrate animals

  • Human/animal parts or body fluids (for example, blood, urine)

  • All hazardous substances or devices (such as caustic chemicals, poisons, drugs, firearms, weapons, ammunition, reloading devices, grease/oil, sublimating solids)

  • Items that may have been in contact with hazardous chemicals

  • Sharp items (for example, syringes, needles, pipettes, knives)

  • Glass

  • Flames and highly flammable materials

  • Batteries with open-top cells or wet cells

  • Drones or any flight-capable apparatus unless the power source removed

  • 3D Printers unless the power source is removed

  • Inadequately insulated apparatus capable of producing dangerous temperatures are not permitted

  • Any apparatus with belts, pulleys, chains, or moving parts with tension or pinch points that are not appropriately shielded

  • Any display items that are deemed distracting to other participants (i.e. sounds, lights, odors)

  • Any apparatus or project material deemed unsafe by MMSSEF staff

  • Allowed at the discretion of MMSSEF staff:

    • Certain living, dead, or preserved plant materials

    • Certain soil, sand, rock, and/or cement 

    • Certain human or animal food
      
      

Science Fair Registration

Registration for MMSSEF has multiple steps.

1. Teacher registers in LaunchPad and provides their signature.

2. Each student registers in LaunchPad.

3. Student registration triggers an email to the parent/guardian who gives permission.

4. Each student/team creates their project in LaunchPad. This includes providing their Research Plan. Students can create a copy of this document to build their research plan.

5. For projects requiring Advance Review, students submit necessary forms. For team projects, only one set of forms is needed per project.

   • MMSSEF will inform teachers if a project is approved or if it needs modifications before the students can begin experimentation.

6. Final Submission includes the Title, Category, Research Plan, and Abstract. For team projects, only one submission is needed per project.

   • Abstract: A narrative no longer than 250 words that describes the following aspects of the project:

     1. Purpose - background, namely the reason, for investigating the project topic and a statement of the problem the research is looking to solve or the questions being tested.

     2. Procedure - how the investigation was conducted, highlighting key points, and including methods and resources used.

     3. Observations/Data/Results - key results that lead directly to the conclusions drawn.

     4. Conclusions - a short summary in 1-2 sentences reflecting on the research process and results, which may include conclusive ideas, important applications, and implications of the research.

     5. Do not include tables, images, graphs, or a bibliography.

     6. Tips for writing an abstract

Advance Review

Some projects, including those involving humans, vertebrate animals, or potentially hazardous biological agents, require pre-approval by the Scientific Review Committee (SRC) and/or Institutional Review Board (IRB). The remainder of this document outlines this Advance Review process.

The following information will help teachers and students determine whether projects need additional forms for Advance Review or if they can take the Fast Track to project submission.