The University of Utah Science and Engineering Fair will be held on March 5, 6, and 7 at the University of Utah in the Crocker Science Center, located at 1390 President’s Circle in Salt Lake City. *Please note that this is the same week as University of Utah’s Spring Break.* A more detailed schedule will be updated in January 2024.
Final deadline for all students to register for USEF after qualifying through their district level fair is February 12, 2024.
Monday, March 4 | 4:00-6:00 pm | Senior division set up |
Tuesday, March 5 | 10:00-3:00 pm | Senior division judging |
Wednesday, March 6 | 9:00—11:30 | Elementary division: Session 1 |
12:30-3:00 | Elementary division: Session 2 | |
Thursday, March 7 | 9:00—11:30 | Junior division: Session 1 |
12:30-3:00 | Junior division: Session 2 | |
Friday, March 8 | 6:00-8:00 pm | Awards Ceremony at Juan Diego High School |
Students attending public schools in grades 5-12 in the Salt Lake, Granite, Park City, Murray, Canyons, South Summit and Tooele school districts. Charter and private schools are also welcome. If you attend a school outside of these districts, please see the Utah Regional Fair map to find the fair you should attend.
In order to be eligible to participate at USEF, you must have participated and won at your school / district fair & received an invitation to participate. Please refer to the eligibility 'roadmap' for details.
All students must register online with the user name and password obtained from their teacher or science fair representative. Senior division students must also submit completed Intel ISEF forms for their projects.
All 9th through 12th grade students will submit their forms online. Go here and create an account so you can get this process underway.
Please refer to the fee schedule on the next tab.
USEF fee schedule is as follows:
Registration Dates | Fee | |
Early Bird Registration | January 30th through February 9th | $25 per student |
On-Time Registration | February 10th through February 13th | $30 per student |
Registration Closes February 13th, 2023 at midnight MST, NO EXCEPTIONS |
Note: Registration will close at midnight MST on Monday, February 13, 2023. No registrations for any reason will be accepted after that date. Fees shown are per-student. For example, an individual student project registering on or before February 9th, 2023 (Early Bird) will be $25, a team of two registering in the same time frame will pay $50 and a team project of three students will pay $75. The team captain (the person who fills out the registration form) is responsible for paying the registration fee for the entire team. (He or she can collect the registration fee(s) from the other team members later)
Fee waivers are available for students who cannot afford the registration fee. Students must register on time to receive the fee waiver. Students registering late (on or after February 14th) will not be eligible for a fee waiver.
USEF registration fees are remaining the same during our virtual fair. While we don’t have a building rental fee, we do have an added cost for specialized software which will be available for all USEF schools and districts. In addition, all participants will receive a USEF 2021 t-shirt by mail and students who place in their category or win a special award will received trophies and award money via mail, which adds additional costs. Please contact Jody Oostema at jody.oostema@utah.edu with any questions
Your division is based on your school grade:
Elementary Division - Grades 5-6
Junior Division - Grades 7-8
Senior Division - Grades 9-12
All students must register online to compete at USEF. The Online registration allows you to be entered quickly into the USEF database. The USEF database is used to create judging cards, organize the winner lists, and create certificates and all other printed materials.
All senior division students are required to submit the forms used at Intel ISEF. Different types of projects require different types of forms. Additional forms are required for projects involving human subjects, vertebrate animals, controlled substances and/or potentially hazardous biological agents. Go here and create an account to get started with your ISEF paperwork. You'll be able to answer a few questions about your project to determine what forms you'll need.
One of the great things about a science fair is that there is room for parental involvement. By sharing science experiences parents demonstrate that learning is an important and enjoyable process. The key point is that parents not do too much. Parents can offer advice, help gather materials, assist in constructing the backboard, and proofread grammar. The research and overall project should generally reflect the student's efforts.
It depends on your choice of project. Use the Intel Rules Wizard to see what forms need to be submitted. This should be done prior to the onset of any experimentation. If you have any questions about this requirement, please contact us.
No. The whole purpose of SRC/IRB approval is to have the committee approve your project before you begin data collection. This will insure that ethical guidelines are met and followed.
Yes. Just be certain that all materials you plan to display are present in order to be approved by a safety and display judge.
The Visual Display requirements are listed here as well as some additional tips and advice. Also, note that no photos of others are allowed, unless a signed release form has been submitted.
Your display will be a visual aid that will briefly state all the important aspects of your project: problem, hypothesis, experiment description, results/analysis, conclusions and applications.
You will need to set up your project on different days depending on your division. Please refer to the fair schedule for details.
Students should arrive 15 minutes prior to when judging begins for their division. Please refer to the schedule for when that is.
Yes. Box lunches will be provided for students and judges. You can choose between three box lunches when you register. (choices cannot be changed once made). We will deliver lunches to students by Noon at their projects. They can then choose when to eat them. Please remember to bring your own water bottles as we won't be providing a beverage with the box lunches. Parents and siblings of students who attend the science fair will need to make their own arrangements for food.
Yes. Limited parking will be available in the main parking lot at Rice Eccles Stadium. Please note that parking is very limited, so consider car pooling or taking TRAX instead of driving your own vehicle. (There is a TRAX station at the stadium)
We recommend that you dress professionally but comfortably.
The judging process is lengthy with a lot of "down" time. We recommend that you bring a book to read or homework to work on. Hand held games and/or iPods are allowed as long as they are put away during judging interviews. Be sure that whatever you bring is not a distraction to yourself or others.
We recommend that if you need to bring a computer or other valuable items with you to display at the fair that you only have them out on display while you are with your project.
The exhibits will be open to the public. Please refer to the fair schedule for details.
You can read about how we judge projects here.
Yes. During the judging time there are category judges and special award judges that are interviewing students. You need to give them an opportunity to talk to you.
The judging interview is the most important component of the judging process. If you cannot come at all, we recommend that you do not set up your project.
Please notify a science fair representative immediately of your circumstance so we can inform your judges. We cannot guarantee that you will be judged as many times as you need to be.
Yes. It would otherwise be difficult for the judges to understand the contributions of each team member. Team projects without all members present will receive a hefty team deduction on their final score.
The length of judging varies. It is important to stay with your project until a science fair representative notifies you that you're free to leave.