Students
Senior Division Project Preregistration is Now Open!
Senior Division Students may now register their science fair projects by completing our online registration form.
Note: you will need the Access Code that your distric science fair administrator will provide for you.
It's that time of year again!
Time to start thinking about your science fair project! Yipee!
We've seen many amazing things happen in science & technology this year. Crazy-cool stuff! So, first things first: figure out what you are going to do for your science fair project. Hint: make sure it's something you really care about and are excited about.
Required Paperwork
All students participating in USEF need to fill out a set of paperwork in order to participate. It is extremely important that this paperwork be done correctly and on time. Here's an overview of what each needs to submit:
Elementary & Junior Division Science Fair Form
Grades 5-8
Elementary & Junior Division students (Grades 5-8) need to fill out and return a registration form to their teachers. To make it easy, we've updated this form so you can fill it out & sign using without printing it first.
Here are a few video tutorials on how to sign your PDFs digitally. Note to Firefox users: the PDF reader built into Firefox does not allow you to fill in the PDF electronically, but you can download and use Adobe Acrobat.
Senior Division Student Paperwork (ISEF Forms)
Grades 9-12
All senior division students are required to complete an important and required, set of documents for your project.
To simplify this process, senior division students must register for USEF before participating at their district fair. Registering early will allow the USEF SRC to review your project and make sure you are following the rules and completing the required forms for your specific project before you begin. Once you have finished registering, the links for the required forms you will need will populate after you finalize your registration. USEF staff will review your pre-registration for accuracy and completeness. If there are any errors or omissions, we’ll contact you via the email you provide at registration.
AFTER you have qualified for USEF through your district fair, you will log back in to your registration to finalize your project for USEF, including updating your project title, selecting what Special Awards you may qualify for, upload a photo of your project board and pay your registration fees. Final updates will be required by February 12, 2025 to participate at USEF.
Please contact Jody Oostema at jody.oostema@utah.edu if you have any questions.
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, 2024 | $30 per student |
| Registration Closes February 112th, 2024 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.
A Guide to the Science Fair—Made by Students
Our Student Advisory Board wrote a helpful guide giving their insight into participating in USEF. It includes tips & advice for how to choose a project, keeping a journal, making a great display board, and a review of the judging process.
The guide was written by Mirae Parker, Michelle Wei, Bovey Rao, Naveen Rathi, Brandon Cui, and Nityam Rathi, who were all members of the 2013-2014 Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair Student Advisory Board.
Tips for Success
For a collection of tips & advice from previous science fair participants, judges & staff, head to the Tips for Success page.
How Projects Are Judged
Students and parents often wonder how projects are judged at USEF. You can read all about that process here.
Student Advisory Board
Do you want to make the science fair even better? We'd love to have you on a special Student Advisory Board. Learn more & apply here.
About USEF
The University of Utah Science & Engineering Fair (USEF) is one of seven Regional Science Fairs in the State of Utah. If you are in 5th-12th grade attending a private, public, charter or parochial school in the Salt Lake, Tooele, Granite, Park City, Canyons or Murray School District, you are eligible to compete at USEF.
You must first compete and win at your school and/or district science fair to advance to USEF. When you win at your school / district fair, you will be given a special certificate with instructions on how to register for USEF. If your school does not hold a science fair, please contact Jody to discuss options for you to participate.
A science fair project is an exciting thing! Pick a topic and ask a question! It's that easy! Any topic that interests you can be turned into a science fair project. Airplanes? Roller blades? Fish? Dogs? Baseball? All involve science or engineering. Formulate a hypothesis!
Enlist the help of your English and Math teachers as well as your Science teachers. Your English teacher can help you with putting together your background research paper and writing up your notebook and display board. Your Math teacher can help with the planning of experiments and analysis of data.
Be creative with your subject and project. Experiment with different concepts and ideas—the more innovative you are the better.