Science fairs provide international high school students a promising opportunity to showcase their research skills and innovative ideas globally. These events foster scientific curiosity, critical thinking, and active collaboration among young minds from diverse backgrounds. By participating in these fairs, you stand to gain valuable experience in conducting experiments, analyzing data, and presenting your findings to peers and experts. 

Science fairs also offer you a chance to explore potential career paths in STEM fields and connect with like-minded individuals worldwide. While there are cash prizes for winners, even a participation certificate from one of the many prestigious international science fairs will significantly boost your college application. 

In this blog, we will explore the 6 science fairs that you can participate in as an international student!

1. Conrad Challenge

Location: Virtual. The finalists are invited to the Conrad Innovation Summit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.

Participation Cost: Free for the first two stages; $499 for the innovation stage; discounts available for teams with financial need

Dates: August 2024 to April 2025 (tentative, based on the 2024 program)

Registration/Application Deadline: August to November 2024 to register for the first stage (tentative, based on the 2023-24 program)

Eligibility: Open to all students between the ages of 13 to 18 years. 

The Conrad Challenge is a year-long multi-phase innovation competition for high school students from around the globe, in which they are tasked with pitching solutions for various STEM-related problems. The Conrad Challenge is set to become one of Space Center Houston’s educational programs in the 2024-2025 edition. Participants work in teams of 2 to 5 members with an adult mentor who needs to register the team. 

The competition takes place in four stages: The Activation Stage, Lean Canvas Stage, Innovation Stage, and Power Pitch Stage. Finalists will be invited to the Conrad Challenge Innovation Summit in Houston for the Power Pitch Stage. Here, you will pitch their innovations to a live panel of judges from various industries. 

Teams who make it to the innovation stage and finalist teams are eligible for yearly scholarships to Menlo College, Lewis & Clark College, Clarkson University, College of Charleston, and Florida Institute of Technology. You can read more about the challenge here!

2. Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)

Location: Fairs are conducted at local, regional, state, and national levels. See the list of the locations of the 2023-24 competition here. 

Participation Cost: This will vary depending on the location and events. You will have to check the fee for your national-level fairs

Dates: May 2025 (tentative, based on the 2023-24 event)

Registration/Application Deadline: You need to compete at an ISEF-affiliated regional fair to qualify for the main event

Eligibility: Open to all students in grades 9–12 who are not over the age of 20 years on May 2025.

Regeneron ISEF is an annual science fair organized by the non-profit Society for Science and is the largest and most prestigious research-oriented science fair in the world. With affiliate state fairs all over the country and abroad, ISEF is the place to be if you want to compete against the best of the best in high-school STEM talent. It helps you gain exposure to scientific research processes and gives you an international stage to present your work. 

Both individual and team projects can be submitted across its 22 categories, including your ongoing research, if any. The only condition is that the research projects should encompass no more than 12 months of continuous research and must not include research performed more than 18 months in advance of the Regeneron ISEF competition.

There are cash awards for the top four teams in every category, while scholarships worth $75,000 towards your higher education are available for the top-performing teams/ individuals. 

To learn more about ISEF’s structure, categories, prizes, and past winners, check out this detailed guide! 

3. Stockholm Junior Water Prize

Location: Virtual. Finalists are invited to the international event in Stockholm.

Participation Cost: Free

Dates: April 2025 to August 2025 (tentative, based on the 2024 program)

Registration/Application Deadline: April 2025 for the state-level championship, which forms the basis for further rounds. Individual state deadlines can be accessed here. (tentative, based on the 2024 program)

Eligibility: Open to all students currently in grades 9-12 who are at least 15 years old and have completed a water science research project.

The Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) is the world's most prestigious award presented to a high school student for a water research project. Students compete in this competition to provide solutions to the world's present and future water problems. You can participate individually or as a team of two. Your projects should use a research-oriented approach.

Your project should be in a research paper format and will be judged based on relevance, creativity, methodology, subject knowledge, practical skills, and report and presentation. Projects exploring water quality, water resources management, or water and wastewater treatment will be given preference. 

A $10,000 scholarship and a free ticket to the international competition in Stockholm, Sweden is awarded to the national winner. The international winner receives a prize of $15,000 for themselves and $5,000 for their school. 

If you’re interested, you can look at this blog that discusses this competition and provides some tips!

4. International Science Fair @ ASMS

Location: Australian Science and Mathematics School, Adelaide, South Australia

Participation Cost: No participation cost, but students will have to bear all costs for the trip to Adelaide

Dates: September 2024 (tentative, based on the 2023 program)

Registration/Application Deadline: Will be updated on the website

Eligibility: Open to all students currently in grades 10-11 from participating schools. Your school can directly approach ASMS for participation.

The Australian Science & Mathematics School (ASMS) hosts the annual International Science Fair, which encourages students to immerse themselves in a week of exploration, investigation, and collaboration on the science-related theme of the year. You will experience Challenge Based Learning, which is designed for you to investigate real-world issues collaboratively, propose solutions, and solve challenges. The main theme for 2024 is Engineering a Future. 

Students cannot participate directly, and if you want your school to participate in this fair, you should ask the concerned authorities to send an email to - info@asms.sa.edu.au. In 2023, the fair welcomed 55 visitors (students and teachers) from 11 different schools in its 19th straight year hosting the program. 

There are various competitions conducted depending upon the theme and while there are no cash prizes, you can win bragging rights for yourself and your school. 

5. International Student Science Fair (ISSF)

Location: The host institute will change every year, and will be announced on the website

Participation Cost: Will be updated on the website

Dates: December 2024 (tentative, based on the 2023 program)

Registration/Application Deadline: Will be updated on the website

Eligibility: Open to all students currently in grades 10-12 from participating schools, the list can be found here. 

The ISSF is a prestigious event that is designed to bring together young aspiring scientists to showcase their innovative research projects and compete for recognition and awards. It is a great platform for talented students to exchange ideas, collaborate, and demonstrate their scientific prowess on an international stage. 

The fair will have a STEM-related theme every year, and in 2023, which was its 19th edition, the theme tackled six (6) of the 17 United Nations (UN) ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs), specifically, goals 7, 11, 12, 13 14 and 15. These goals aim to address various global challenges and promote sustainable development.

The highlight of the program is the Project Presentation, which focuses on scientific research and can be done individually or in a group. Project Poster Exhibition is another event where the findings are presented for everyone to see. There are also the competitive Science Zone and Science Showdown events when students compete for points in theoretical and hands-on experiments. 

6. Vienna Science and Engineering Fair

Location: Lycée Francais de Vienne, Wien, Austria

Participation Cost: Free, but participants will have to bear costs if they visit the main event in Vienna

Dates: April 2025 (tentative, based on the 2024 program)

Registration/Application Deadline: Project registrations open in January and the deadline is in April every year

Eligibility: Open to middle and high school students from Europe and Asia.

The Vienna Science and Engineering Fair is conducted by the Women in Nuclear (IAEA Chapter) in collaboration with the Vienna Chapter of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management (INMM) and the United Nations-Nuclear Young Generation (UN-NYG). The fair brings together middle and high school students from Vienna and even international students to present a detailed report on the annual theme, which is usually a topic containing aspects of science, engineering, politics, and the economy.

The text of the report should be less than 10,000 words in length. The report should preferably be written in English. Reports from French, Austrian, Japanese, or Russian Schools may be submitted in French, German, Japanese, or Russian, respectively, as long as they are accompanied by a summary in English. The report should include a title page, table of contents, abstract, description of activities, results and conclusions, and a bibliography. 

Students participate in two divisions and are eligible for awards in these divisions - Junior division is grades 6 through 8 (approximate ages 12 to 14), and Senior division is grades 9 to 12 (approximate ages 15 to 18). Detailed instructions and topics can be found here. 

7. EU Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS)

Location: The host city changes every year and is from one of the EU nations. The 2024 contest will be held in Katowice, Poland.

Participation Cost: Free

Dates: September 9 - September 14, 2024 

Registration/Application Deadline: National contest organizers receive invitations to nominate students on dates that vary each year

Eligibility: Open to all students from EU countries who are 14 to 20 years old. Students from guest nations can also participate, but they will need to bear their expenses.

The European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) is one of the most prestigious science competitions and fairs for European students, and it has been held annually since 1989. You will get the opportunity to compete with the best of your peers at the European level while meeting other young scientists with similar skills and interests, and will also have the opportunity to get guidance from some of the most prominent scientists in Europe. 

You cannot participate directly and organizers of participating National Contests are invited to nominate the first-prize-winning teams from the national contest to EUCYS. Projects can be composed of individual participants or teams of up to 3 participants. Each country can only submit up to 3 projects, with a maximum of 6 contestants per country in total.  Contestants are asked to provide a short video, a written project, and a poster for display at a public exhibition during the contest. Contestants will also be required to answer questions from members of the scientific jury.

There are multiple cash prizes up for grabs as described below - 

• Four 1st Prizes worth €7,000 each

• Four 2nd Prizes worth €5,000 each

• Four 3rd Prizes worth €3,500 each

• Special Jury Prize for youth €2,500

8. International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO)

Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Participation Cost: $3,000 per team, to be borne by participating organization from your country, free for students

Dates: The competition usually takes place in July 

Registration/Application Deadline: the participating organization that conducts the national-level competition needs to complete the formalities as per the defined dates.

Eligibility: High school students from participating countries

The IChO comprises teams of 4 students and 2 mentors each, with approximately 90 countries participating in the competition. The competition will test your knowledge of chemistry, including the periodic table, constants and formulae, spectroscopic data, reactions, and more. You can look at some preparatory problems here.

The competition is divided into a 5-hour theoretical written examination and a 5-hour laboratory practical exam, each taking place on separate days. Following both exams, judges will mark the teams and award medals to the top-ranking teams or countries. In addition, students will participate in discussions, lab visits, meetings, activities, social events, opening and closing ceremonies, and a farewell dinner. 

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Veritas AI was founded by Harvard graduate students, and through the programs, you get a chance to learn the fundamentals of AI and computer science while collaborating on real-world projects. You can also work 1-1 with mentors from universities like Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and more to create unique, personalized projects. In the past year, we had over 1000 students learn data science and AI with us. You can apply here!

Image Source - IChO Logo