Science Fair 2026 March 9, 2026--see below for information!

Categories

Senior (High School) Division:

The CRSEF will continue to use the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) rules and categories. The fair staff reserves the right to review categories, reassign registration categories when deemed necessary, or make changes due to project category volume. Description of the categories are focused on the ISEF website: https://www.societyforscience.org/isef/categories-and-subcategories/

All projects entered in the Chattanooga Regional Science and Engineering Fair will need to be mounted on a trifold project board for judging (36' x 48" maximum). 

CRSEF Process for Senior Division Participants: Senior Division participants need to drop-off/set-up their projects in the Challenger Center on the UTC Campus on Friday, March 6th or Sunday March 8th from 3:00 to 6:00 pm OR Monday, March 9th from 7:30 to 8:30 am. It is important to note that the Senior Division participants will interview with a judge on Monday, March 9th from 9:00 to noon for the first round of judging. There is also a second round of judging for students whose scores qualify them to the next round. Lunch (pizza) will be provided to the Senior Division participants free of charge from 12:00 to 1:00 pm as final Round 1 tabulations are concluded. The Senior Division Championship Participants will be announced at 1:00 pm on Monday, March 9th, and after the announcement of second round qualifiers, the second round of Senior Division judging will commence from 1:15 to 4:30 pm on Monday, March 9th. This means that the Senior Division students will need to be prepared to answer questions about their project to a judge, and they must be present with their board for judging for the first round of judging, and also the second round of judging if they qualify. If a Senior Division participant does not qualify for Round 2 of judging, then they are dismissed and are not required to stay beyond the 1:00 pm announcement of Senior Division Championship Participants. We welcome all participants, parents, teachers, etc. to join us for our Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, March 10th from 6:30 to 7:30 pm at the Challenger Center, and ask that your projects be collected after the Awards Ceremony.

The Chattanooga Regional Science and Engineering Fair sends two projects from the High School Division each year to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the world’s largest international pre-college science competition.

We're an entirely volunteer group that welcomes any help, large or small, to come together and give our local youth an opportunity to learn more about science and engineering through their own creative projects.

Junior (Middle School) Division:

The CRSEF will continue to use the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge rules and categories for the Middle School Division (additional resources for middle school educators may be found at https://www.societyforscience.org/jic/for-educators/). The fair staff reserves the right to review categories, reassign registration categories when deemed necessary, or make changes due to project category volume. 

CRSEF Process for Junior Division Participants: It is important to note that the Junior Division participants will not interview with a judge. Instead, Junior Division participants need to drop-off/set-up their projects in the Challenger Center on the UTC Campus on Friday or Sunday, March 6th or 8th from 3:00 to 6:00 pm. Judging for the Junior Division will take place on Monday (March 9th). The Junior Division participants are not needed at their boards for judging, their projects will be judged as it stands without an interview with the participant. This means that Junior Division participants need to drop-off/set-up their project in the Challenger Center on the UTC Campus by  Sunday, March 8th from 3:00 to 6:00 pm, and their presence will not be needed until our Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, March 10th from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. We welcome all participants, parents, teachers, etc. to join us for our Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, March 10th from 6:30 to 7:30 pm, and ask that your projects be collected after the Awards Ceremony.

The top 10% of middle school division scorers will be entered into the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge and will receive a packet on CRSEF Awards Day describing how to submit your online science fair entry.

Please Contact Us With Questions 

chattsciencefair@gmail.com

Resource Section

If you have research/Science Fair questions, please review the resources below.

Information on project displays: https://sspcdn.blob.core.windows.net/files/Documents/SEP/ISEF/2025/Resources/Project-Material-Guidelines.pdf (See also: https://guides.nyu.edu/posters)

https://www.societyforscience.org/jic/for-educators/

https://www.uncp.edu/sites/default/files/2018-03/short_regional_guiding_research.pdf

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/competitions/how-to-be-successful-at-a-top-science-competition