2024 Vienna Science and Engineering Fair Requirements and Rules

Who Can Participate in the Fair?

All Middle School and High School students from participating international schools in and around Vienna, plus surrounding countries, may register for the Science Fair. Students' projects will be divided into a Junior and a Senior division. If a project is a team entry, all members of the team should qualify for the same division (same school, same grade).

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. The exact format of the report will depend on the type of project (i.e., research, demonstration, information, or design). Other documentation for the project (notebooks, photographs, working papers) can also be included.

Science Fair schedule

Divisions

The projects will be divided into categories in two divisions. The divisions are organized by grade level. 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). If a project is a team entry, all members of the team must qualify for the same division. Each division will be judged separately.

Categories

Projects entered at the Science Fair will be further divided into categories in each division as shown below. Students should specify the category of their project when they register. However, the Science Fair officials may revise or change the project categories depending on content or number of entries received in a category.

Senior Division Categories

Junior Division Categories

Prizes will be awarded in both Junior and Senior Divisions for the best project in each category and for the best project in each division. Other awards and prizes will be given at the discretion of the judges.

Conduct of Work

The project must be the work of the team members alone. Students may obtain guidance from others, but the students must do the work independently by themselves. The repetition of a previous project is not permitted; however, extension of work done for a previous Science Fair project may be accepted if noted when registering. Senior level students submitting projects involving human subjects, non-human vertebrates, pathogenic agents, controlled substances, recombinant DNA or human/animal tissue must note this fact when registering and will be required to supply further information about their project in advance of the fair, in order to ensure that the project adheres to ethical rules and pertinent laws.

Special restrictions

Projects involving human subjects, vertebrate animals, pathogenic agents, controlled substances, hazardous chemicals or devices, human/animal tissue or recombinant DNA must be approved by a Science Review Committee. All projects in these categories must be so identified during registration. No live animals, preserved vertebrate animals or parts, including embryos, may be exhibited at the fair. No photographs or drawings of surgical techniques, dissection, autopsies, or other laboratory techniques depicting vertebrate animals in other than normal conditions may be displayed. No human parts can be exhibited except hair, teeth, or nails. No projects involving illegal or controlled substances are allowed.

Report

A report is required for each registered project. The text of the report should be less than 10,000 words. The recommended format for the report is pdf or docx. If any other format is preferred, the science teacher or the Science Fair organizers should be consulted. 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, if 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. The exact format of the report will depend on the type of project (i.e., research, demonstration, information, or design). Other documentation for the project (notebooks, photographs, working papers) may be attached to the report file, but is not required. When completed, the team uploads the report to a file sharing site of their choice (ex. Google Drive, Dropbox, Mega, etc.). The team then gets a Share Link for their report file that needs to be used in registration.

Video

If the Science Fair must be conducted via Zoom, a video presentation describing their project may be required.

If it will not be possible for the judges to review and interview students in person, the Science Fair may require the students creating the project to make a 3-5-minute video to present their project and findings. In the video, the students would be asked explain what they were trying to accomplish, how they went about it, what they found out, what were the conclusions, what problems they encountered and how they overcame them, etc. A Project Display Board can be used in the video presentation, but it is not required. Most phone cameras should be able to film a good quality video. The team would upload the video to a streaming service of their choice (e.g., YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, etc.). The team would then obtain a Share Link for their video to be used during registration.

Registration

Students who want to participate in the Science Fair MUST complete an online registration of their project.The electronic form is located in the Science Fair website. Registration may be made beginning January 2024. The last day of registration will be 5 April 2024. At the time of registration, the Share Link for the required project report should be included. The registration should be for each project. Each project may have up to three team members. A student may enter only one project or be a team member of only one project. Registration changes can only be made by reregistering the project but only until the registration deadline (5 April). No changes will be accepted after that.

Judging and Awards

Science Fair participants will need to set up their project report at the Lycée Francais de Vienne (Lycée) late afternoon Friday, 19 April 2024 or, if absolutely necessary, Saturday, 20 April before 09:30. Details will be provided to teachers prior to that time. On Saturday, 20 April 2024, from 10:00 to 12:00, students will be interviewed face-to-face by the Science Fair judges. Each interview will be in English and should take 10-15 minutes. The judges, who have had access to all reports, will ask students to further describe and explain the project and may ask clarifying questions. If a student requires a language other than English (e.g. French, German, Japanese or Russian), an attempt will be made to provide judges or interpreters who speak the requested language.

Judging will be conducted by science and engineering professionals from Vienna's international community. The judges will meet immediately after the judging to determine the rating for each project: Superior (yellow ribbon), Excellent (blue ribbon), or Honorable Mention (red ribbon), as well as the additional Science Fair awards: Best of category; Best of Junior and Senior Divisions, plus other awards to recognize projects of special merit.

At 14:00, the Science Fair display area will be open to the public. A Certificate of Participation and the appropriate ribbon for the project will be placed on the project table prior to the opening.

At 16:00, an Awards Reception will open in Studio Moliere for all participants and their parents, plus teachers, judges, and organizers. At that time, the results of the judges' determinations will be announced, and the full list of awards will be made public.

Publication

The Science Fair organizers reserve the right to publish part or all the project reports and pictures taken as part of the Science Fair.