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General Information

Program Objectives

The primary goal of the IJSHS is to promote original research and experimentation in the sciences, engineering, and mathematics at the high school level, and to publicly recognize students for outstanding achievement. Each of the forty eight regional symposia, as well as the National Program, provide a forum for high school students to present the results of their original research in the sciences, engineering, mathematics, psychology and the social sciences.

Learn more about our mission.

Students who participate in the symposium also have the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas, interact with practicing researchers, and explore future academic and career opportunities.  To register, select the desired link below, or visit our Registration page to learn more.

Student Registration and Parental Consent Form 

Teacher Registration Form 

Student Research Application Form

Symposium Participation

The IJSHS will commence March 6, 2013 and conclude the morning of March 9, 2013 at the University of Utah. The four-day program brings together students and teachers from five intermountain states. The symposium provides its participating students with three night accommodations, meals and local transportation. Travel expenses to and from Salt Lake City, and registration fees are the responsibility of the student/teacher participant, their school, school district or other private agency.

Teachers who accompany their students are expected to chaperone and oversee student participation in ALL the symposium activities.  A detailed schedule will be sent before the symposium begins.  Because the schedule will be full, delegates wishing to sightsee in Salt Lake City should plan to arrive before or stay after the symposium.

Team Projects

Students should report on their individual research contributions. If students are part of a larger group, the presentation should focus on individual contributions to the larger research project and properly acknowledge the contributions of other students, mentors, and/or teachers. For team research that cannot be divided into individual presentations, a team leader should be selected to present the results of the group work. In this case, all JSHS directives applying to individual research investigations will apply to the group research investigations. In the event the group presenter of the winning regional group is unable to present at the National level, this opportunity will be passed on to the next ranking project. This decision is made since the judges' evaluations and scores pertain to the individual presenter.

Competition

According to the research they have conducted, students submitting papers are placed into corresponding judging categories for the competition. Possible research disciplines and sub-disciplines include but are not restricted to:

• Earth and Space Science Including astronomy, environmental science, geology, marine, science, and meteorology
• Engineering or Technology
• Physical Sciences Including chemistry, energy, engineering, and physics
• Behavioral Science
• Mathematics and Computer Science
• Biological Sciences Including biochemistry, general biology, forestry, genetics, medicine and health, microbiology and physiology

The research presentations of the IJSHS presenters are divided into up to three concurrent sessions. Awards are given to 1st – 3rd place presenters. The top five presenters will be named at the awards banquet and will attend the National JSHS.