The University of Utah Science & Engineering Fair (USEF) is an affiliate of the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) and is thereby required to follow all Intel ISEF rules and regulations.
Part of ISEF rules require that every participant submit a set of forms to document that the student’s science fair project was thoroughly planned prior to experimentation, followed safety and ethics rules and was supervised by a responsible adult.
There are 14 separate documents that may be required. Every project will require an initial set of at least 4 documents (two checklists, an approval form and a research plan). Other projects might require additional documents—for example, if a project dealt with human subjects, a "Human Participants" form will also be required to document that aspect of the project.
To figure out which forms a particular project will require, visit the Intel ISEF Rules Wizard.
All forms must be filled out correctly and be submitted on time. They must include proper signatures and dates to document that various steps took place in the correct order. Projects that aren't documented properly (with perfect paperwork) will not be allowed to compete at ISEF.
Depending on your particular project, you may need to include different forms. Not all forms are required for every project. For example, if your project involves taking measurements from other people, you will need to include forms that cover Human Participants. To get started with this process, create an account here.
To help with submitting & correcting forms, we set up a special section of our website to allow students to submit early drafts of their paperwork to us for review. When a student or teacher uploads a set of paperwork, we review and validate that it was completed correctly. If we spot something that isn't right (incorrect dates, poor abstract, missing signatures, etc.), we will detail the error and ask that a corrected version be submitted. Go here and create an account to get started with your ISEF paperwork.
Here are two videos showing how to digitally sign the ISEF paperwork. If you are signing these documents yourself or sending these to others for their signatures, you can refer to these videos to make gathering those signatures easier. There are also a number of iOS and Android apps or other online services that you can use to digitally sign PDFs.
For those using a Mac (using Preview App)
For those using a PC (using Adobe Reader)
We will be happy to schedule an in-person workshop at your school to help you & your students with paperwork. Please contact us and we'll set up a date & time to meet.
We made a set of videos explaining how to properly fill out all senior division forms. Give these short videos a try if you have any questions.