LISEF Fair – Round 1 and 2 Information

In-Person Round 1

Adhere to Regeneron ISEF Display and Safety Guidelines.
Prepare a presentation of no more than seven (7) minutes, and be prepared for a question and answer session of five (5) minutes. It is at the judge’s discretion to allow you to do a formal presentation.
All projects MUST display the Abstract on the ISEF Form vertically, and if Forms 1C (both pages, on separate sheets) or 7 are needed, they must also be displayed in plain sight.
Electricity will not be provided.
Loss or damage: Valuable equipment may be part of the display only if the student participant accepts full responsibility should it be lost or damaged. LISEF, Inc. assumes no responsibility for loss or damage to any project or project component.
No equipment is allowed under the table setup.
If the liaison is unable to attend In-Person Round 1, the liaison must arrange for a district employee to act as chaperone during the entire competition and that chaperone must assume the duties/responsibilities of the liaison.

Advancement to In-Person Round 2

The number of projects that move on from Round 1 to Round 2 is a minimum of 25% of the projects in a category with a maximum of 10. If a category is awarded 2 ISEF spots, the maximum for that category will be set at 20 but may be less if the calculation dictates. When this calculation results in a decimal equal to or greater than 0.5, we will round up. Projects with negative z-scores are not eligible to advance. If the calculation results in a number less than 5, LISEF will ask the 5 projects with the highest positive z-scores as long as there are 5 with positive z-scores.
SRC Review:
- Prior to Round 2, students who advance will receive a SRC email This email will indicate if any corrections to ISEF forms are needed. These forms must be submitted to the LISEF student dashboard, as per instructions on the email, and are due before Round 2. No updated paperwork should be brought to Round 2.
- The research paper and supporting ISEF Forms will be reviewed for compliance with the ISEF International Rules and LISEF Rules; an interview may result. Projects that Fail to Qualify or fail to submit all items requested by the SRC cannot participate in In-Person LISEF Round 2.

In-Person Round 2: Project Display Regulations and Information

Adhere to Regeneron ISEF Display and Safety Guidelines.
Prepare a presentation of no more than seven (7) minutes, and be prepared for a question and answer session of five (5) minutes. It is at the judge’s discretion to allow you to do a formal presentation.
All projects MUST display the Abstract on the ISEF Form vertically, and if Forms 1C (both pages, on separate sheets) or 7 are needed, they must also be displayed in plain sight.
Electricity will not be provided.
Loss or damage: Valuable equipment may be part of the display only if the student participant accepts full responsibility should it be lost or damaged. LISEF, Inc. assumes no responsibility for loss or damage to any project or project component.
No equipment is allowed under the table setup.
If the liaison is unable to attend In-Person Round 2, the liaison must arrange for a district employee to act as chaperone during the entire competition and awards program and that chaperone must assume the duties/responsibilities of the liaison.
Both In-Person Round 1 Z-score average and In-Person Day 2 Z-score average for each student will be combined to determine our winners, with the Round 2 score being weighed more heavily using the following rules:
1. If the number of rounds of judging on day 1/the number of rounds of judging on day 2 < .5, we would count Round 1 average z-score as 15% and Round 2 avg z-score as 85%.
2. If the number of rounds of judging on day 1/the number of rounds of judging on day 2 = .5, we would count Round 1 average z-score as 25% and Round 2 avg z-score as 75%.
3. If the number of rounds of judging on Round 1/the number of rounds of judging on day 2 > .5, we would count Round 1 1 average z-score as 33 1/3% and Round 2 avg z-score as 66 2/3%.
All first place winners must remain for a short meeting immediately after the awards ceremony. Winners only become finalists if they receive an email the Sunday following the competition informing them that their status is now ISEF Finalist.
There will be a MANDATORY after-school finalists’ meeting on Thursday March 7, 2024, place and time to be announced, for finalists advancing to ISEF and their chaperones.
There will be a second MANDATORY meeting for finalists and their chaperones, where finalists will give their presentation to a panel; dates and shipping information to be provided in the finalists packet.