University of Utah Science & Engineering Fair
Pre-register

Students

You did the experiment. You built the board. Now explain it to scientists from local research labs and industry.

Win at your school or district fair and you’re in. The fair is for grades 5–12 in the Canyons, Granite, Murray, Park City, Salt Lake, Tooele and Uintah school districts, the Salt Lake Catholic Diocese, and private, charter and home schools within those boundaries.

A student in a striped sweater explains their project board to a seated adult at the 2026 fair.

Grades 9–12: pre-register now

Grades 5–8: keep working on your project. Registration opens January 25.

Pre-register

Your steps

Grades 5–8 (Elementary and Junior divisions)

  1. Do a project at school

    Pick a question you really care about and work through it with your teacher. The Resource Center walks you through it.

  2. Win at your school or district fair

    Your teacher will tell you if your project qualified for this fair.

  3. Register on this site by February 10

    Registration opens January 25. It costs $30 per student, and fee waivers are available.

  4. Come to the fair

    Elementary · grades 5–6: Wednesday, March 10. Junior · grades 7–8: Thursday, March 11.

    Fair Week schedule: Elementary · Fair Week schedule: Junior

Grades 9–12 (Senior division)

  1. Pre-register (from Nov 4)

    Register before your district fair so the Scientific Review Committee can check your project plan and tell you which forms you need. If anything is missing, we'll email you.

    Pre-register

  2. Get SRC/IRB approval if you need it

    Projects with human participants, vertebrate animals, or hazardous materials need approval before you start experimenting.

    Scientific Review Committee rules

  3. Win at your district fair

    Only projects that qualify at a district fair move on to this fair.

  4. Finish registering and upload ISEF forms by February 10

    Log back in to update your project title, choose the Special Awards you qualify for, upload a photo of your board, and pay the fee (fee waivers are available).

  5. Come to the fair

    Setup is Monday, March 8, 3–5 pm. Judging is Tuesday, March 9, 10 am–3 pm.

    Fair Week schedule: Senior

  6. Top projects go to Regeneron ISEF

    The best Senior projects earn an all‑expense‑paid trip to the international fair in May.

    About Regeneron ISEF

Fees and fee waivers

Project Registration

Once the paperwork above is filled out, and you've won your district fair, you can register your project for USEF. Students who place at their district fair will be given a special username & password so you can register their projects online.

Registration Fees

USEF fee schedule is as follows:

  Registration Dates Fee
Registration Jan 29 - Feb 12, 2025 $30 per student
Registration Closes February 12th, 2025 at midnight MST, NO EXCEPTIONS

Note: Registration will close at midnight MST on Monday, February 12, 2024. No registrations for any reason will be accepted after that date. Fees shown are per-student. For example, an individual student project registering will be $30, a team of two registering in the same time frame will pay $60 and a team project of three students will pay $90. 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. 

Please contact Jody Oostema at jody.oostema@utah.edu with any questions.