International Science and Engineering Fair

The Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair is an annual science fair held in the United States. It is widely regarded as the most prestigious pre-university scientific and engineering research competition in the world. It is owned and administered by the Society for Science, a 501 non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C.
Each year, an estimated 7 million students from 75 countries participate in affiliated local, regional, and national science fairs that serve as feeders to ISEF, with roughly 1,800 finalists advancing to the international competition. Each May, finalists compete in the fair for scholarships, tuition grants, internships, scientific field trips and the grand prizes, including one $75,000 and two $50,000 college scholarships. All prizes together amount to over $9,000,000. Two major awards ceremonies are the Special Awards Organization Presentation and the Grand Awards Ceremony.

History

The International Science and Engineering Fair was founded in 1950 by Science Service and was sponsored by Intel from 1997 to 2019.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals became the title sponsor for ISEF in 2020, but the event was cancelled that year and replaced with an online version due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 ISEF was a fully virtual event while 2022 was held online and in-person in Atlanta, GA, and 2023 was in person in Dallas, TX. The 2024 and 2025 ISEF were held in person in Los Angeles, CA and Columbus, OH respectively.

Contestants and competition

Contestants are selected from regional, district, and state ISEF affiliated fairs. These fairs usually encompass multiple states or entire regions of a country. The regional fair committee is responsible for managing the fair when their city hosts the event.
Individual science projects and team science projects both compete for prizes. Teams are composed of two to as many as four high school students. In addition to the judging of projects and an open session for the public to view them, there is time set aside for students to experience the host city with tours and activities. A significant component of the program is social, as students interact with each other during mixers and ceremonies. Throughout much of the week, various seminars are also held for students, mentors and teachers.
Projects and judging are divided into 22 subject categories.

Prizes and honors

: $100,000 scholarship, given to the top of the Best of Category Award winners, selected on the basis of innovative research and potential of the project to have an impact in the particular field and the world as a whole.
: $50,000 awards presented by Regeneron and SSP to two Best in Category projects. Previous winners include Henry Lin and Eesha Khare.
The : In recognition of Gordon E. Moore's continued legacy of honoring the best at the International Science and Engineering Fair, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is providing the $50,000 for the award.
: all expense trip paid trip to the Stockholm International Youth Science Seminar, and attendance to the Nobel Prize ceremonies.
: A $10,000 award given to the finalist who best demonstrates an innovation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, recognizing that research and innovation are dependent on the integration of these disciplines, as well as the impact they collectively have on our everyday lives
: $10,000 is given to the project that represents the best in fundamental research that furthers our understanding of science and/or mathematics and promotes the understanding of natural phenomena without clearly defined applications towards processes or products in mind.
: A $10,000 award honoring Peggy Scripps who was a science journalist who served as a writer and editor of Science Newsletter for many years. This award is given to the finalist who is best able to communicate their project to the lay public, explaining both the science and its potential impact on society.
: an all-expense-paid trip enables attendance at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists located in a new city each year.

ISEF used to hold a "People's Choice Award" to allow the public to vote for its favorite entries.
Since 2001, MIT's Lincoln Laboratory has named asteroids after ISEF winners as part of the Ceres Connection.
Multiple organizations sponsor 'special awards' with their own distinct criteria. These organizations include the National Security Agency, Association for Computing Machinery, IEEE Foundation, and Patent and Trademark Office Society.

Finalist Medal

The Regeneron ISEF Finalist Medal is given to about 1800 students from 75 countries each year, which are participating at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, which is owned and administered by the Society for Science, a 501 non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. In 2013 there were 1611 finalists at the Intel ISEF in Phoenix, Arizona.
The medal has a diameter of 48 mm and is golden galvanized. The obverse shows the official logo of the Regeneron ISEF, the reverse shows the year of participation and the location of that year's Regeneron ISEF.
The ribbon bar is blue with a width of 40 mm and has a golden romanic 1 in the middle.

Notable alumni

ISEF alumni include:

Richard Zare : American chemist who won the National Medal of Science in 1983
James Gunn : Astronomer and MacArthur Fellow who won the National Medal of Science in 2008
John Clauser : American theoretical and experimental physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2022
Paul Modrich : American biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2015
Susan Solomon : Atmospheric chemist who won the National Medal of Science in 1999
Kristina M. Johnson : SUNY Chancellor
Dianne Newman : Microbiologist
Vamsi Mootha : Mitochondrial biologist 2004 MacArthur Fellow
Feng Zhang : CRISPR researcher
Lester Mackey : Computer Scientist, 2023 MacArthur Fellow
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez : United States Congresswoman
Top prize winners

When Intel began sponsoring ISEF in 1997, the Grand Awards were replaced with the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards, awarded to the top three projects. In 2010, the top award was renamed for Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore.
;ISEF 1997

Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards
* Scott Nicholas Sanders
* Logan Joseph Kleinwaks
* Karen Mendelson

;ISEF 1998

Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards
* James Warner Lawler
* Jonathan Adam Kelner
* Geoffrey Robert Schmidt
Pinnacle Awards
* Chad Ganske, Amit Barman and Jonathan Haines
* Heather Matthews and Twila Paterson

;ISEF 1999

Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards
* Jennifer Lynn Pelka
* Nisha Nagarkatti
* Feng Zhang

;ISEF 2000

Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards
* Nazanin Jouei
* Karen Kay Powell
* Jason L. Douglas

;ISEF 2001

Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards
* Ryan Randall Patterson
* Monika Paroder
* Francis Boulva

;ISEF 2002

Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards
* Naveen Neil Sinha
* Alexander C. Mittal
* Nina Vasan

;ISEF 2003

Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards
* Lisa Doreen Glukhovsky
* Elena Leah Glassman
* Anila Madiraju

;ISEF 2004

Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards
* Sarah Rose Langberg
* Uwe Treske
* Yuanchen Zhu

;ISEF 2005

Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards
* Gabrielle Alyce Gianelli
* Stephen Schulz
* Ameen Abdulrasool

;ISEF 2006

Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards
* Hannah Louise Wolf
* Madhavi Pulakat Gavini
* Meredith Ann MacGregor

;ISEF 2007

Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards
* Dayan Li
* Philip Vidal Streich
* Dmitry Vaintrob

;ISEF 2008

Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards
* Sana Raoof
* Natalie Saranga Omattage
* Yi-Han Su

;ISEF 2009

Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards
* Tara Adiseshan
* Li Boynton
* Olivia Schwob

;ISEF 2010

Gordon E. Moore Award: Amy Chyao
Young Scientist Award: Kevin Ellis
Young Scientist Award: Yale Fan

;ISEF 2011

Gordon E. Moore Award: Matthew Feddersen and Blake Marggraff
Young Scientist Award: Pornwasu Pongtheerawan, Arada Sungkanit and Tanpitcha Phongchaipaiboon
Young Scientist Award: Taylor Wilson

;ISEF 2012

Gordon E. Moore Award: Jack Thomas Andraka
Young Scientist Award: Nicholas Benjamin Schiefer
Young Scientist Award: Ari Misha Dyckovsky

;ISEF 2013

Gordon E. Moore Award: Ionut Budisteanu
Young Scientist Award: Eesha Khare
Young Scientist Award: Henry Lin

;ISEF 2014

Gordon E. Moore Award: Nathan Han
Young Scientist Award: Lennart Kleinwort
Young Scientist Award: Shannon Winjing Lee

;ISEF 2015

Gordon E. Moore Award: Raymond Wang
Young Scientist Award: Nicole Ticea
Young Scientist Award: Karan Jerath

;ISEF 2016

Gordon E. Moore Award: Han Jie Wang
Young Scientist Award: Syamantak Payra
Young Scientist Award: Kathy Liu

;ISEF 2017

Gordon E. Moore Award: Ivo Zell
Young Scientist Award: Valerio Pagliarino
Young Scientist Award: Amber Yang

;ISEF 2018

Gordon E. Moore Award: Oliver Nicholls
Young Scientist Award: Meghana Bollimpalli
Young Scientist Award: Dhruvik Parikh

;ISEF 2019

Gordon E. Moore Award: Krithik Ramesh
Young Scientist Award: Allison Sihan Jia
Young Scientist Award: Rachel Seevers
Craig R. Barrett Award for Innovation : Shriya Reddy

;ISEF 2020

Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and replaced with a virtual fair. Because some qualifier events did not name winners, the fair was not judged and prizes were not awarded.

;ISEF 2021

George D. Yancopoulos Innovator Award: Michelle Hua
Young Scientist Award: Catherine Kim
Young Scientist Award: Daniel Shen
Gordon E. Moore Award for Positive Outcomes for Future Generations: John Benedict Estrada
Craig R. Barrett Award for Innovation: Arya Tschand
H. Robert Horvitz Prize for Fundamental Research: Neha Mani
Peggy Scripps Award for Science Communication: Franklin Wang

;ISEF 2022

George D. Yancopoulos Innovator Award: Robert Sansone
Young Scientist Award: Rishab Jain
Young Scientist Award: Abdullah Al-Ghamdi
Gordon E. Moore Award for Positive Outcomes for Future Generations: Chris Tidtijumreonpon, Napassorn Litchiowong & Wattanapong Uttayota
Craig R. Barrett Award for Innovation: Amon Schumann
H. Robert Horvitz Prize for Fundamental Research: Rebecca Cho
Peggy Scripps Award for Science Communication: Anika Puri

;ISEF 2023

George D. Yancopoulos Innovator Award: Kaitlyn Wang
Young Scientist Award: Saathvik Kannan
Young Scientist Award: Teepakorn Keawumdee, Pannathorn Siri, & Poon Trakultagmun
Gordon E. Moore Award for Positive Outcomes for Future Generations: Natasha Kulviwat
Craig R. Barrett Award for Innovation: Yuyang Wang
H. Robert Horvitz Prize for Fundamental Research: Rishabh Ranjan & Gopalaniruddh Tadinada
Peggy Scripps Award for Science Communication: Eugene Chen

;ISEF 2024

George D. Yancopoulos Innovator Award: Grace Sun
Gordon E. Moore Award for Positive Outcomes for Future Generations: Justin Huang, Victoria Ou
Craig R. Barrett Award for Innovation: Ingrid Chan
Young Scientist Award: Michelle Wei
H. Robert Horvitz Prize for Fundamental Research: Tanishka Aglave
Peggy Scripps Award for Science Communication: Maddux Springer