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The EWRSEF is one of five Regional Science Fairs in the State of Washington. If you are in 6th-12th grade attending a private, public, charter, parochial, or home school in one of six Eastern Washington Counties (Ferry, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, or Whitman), you are eligible to participate in the EWRSEF! You can work on a project by yourself or in a team (maximum of 3 students) on the science or engineering project of your choice. Prizes will be awarded by a team of expert judges.

All participants are eligible to advance to the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair. The top high school projects at the EWRSEF will advance directly to the prestigious International Science & Engineering Fair! Select high school junior projects will be recommended to apply to the Washington State Academy of Sciences. WSAS sponsors delegates to attend the AJAS and AAAS meetings, covering all expenses including travel, registration, meals, and lodging. Each year, WSAS attempts to sponsor all qualified applicants.

Project Categories

Each project must be entered into one of the 20 science, math, and engineering categories.  They are listed on the Project Categories page.

Tips and Advice

The Tips and Advice page will give you steps to use in completing your project.

Registration Deadline:

Projects involving human participants, vertebrate animals, potentially hazardous biological agents (ANY microorganisms or viruses), or hazardous chemicals, activities or devices must be registered online by January 13, 2023 for Scientific Review Board or Internal Review Board (SRC/IRB) approval.  You may not begin experimentation until you have SRC/IRB approval, so early registration is strongly recommended. Check out the ISEF Forms Wizard to determine if you need extra forms!

All other projects need to be registered by January 13, 2023

EWRSEF – March 15, 2023

Rules and Guidelines

The EWRSEF follows the same rules as the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF). View the ISEF Rules & Guidelines to learn more.

Many class assignments, senior projects, summer research projects, and displays created for other science competitions can be entered into the fair with minimal changes. You can work on a project by yourself or in a team of 2 or 3.  Your science or engineering project should be in one of the fair’s Project Categories and will be judges using the Judging Guidelines & Criterial.

Registration

  • Register online at EWRSEF STEMwizard and submit your forms and Research Plan. Each student needs to complete the permission forms. Only the team leader needs to submit the ISEF forms, research plan, and abstract. 
  • Registration Deadline: Projects involving human participants, vertebrate animals, potentially hazardous biological agents (ANY microorganisms or viruses), or hazardous chemicals, activities or devices must be registered online no later than January 13, 2023.  You may not begin experimentation until you have SRC/IRB approval, so early registration is strongly recommended. 
  • All projects need to be registered by January 13, 2023.
  • Abstracts need to be submitted by March 3, 2023.

  Projects that miss these deadlines will not be able to participate.

Registration for the 2023 EWRSEF is open.

Required Forms

All students must submit electronic copies of the following forms in order participate in the fair. Please do not mail us original forms. We are not responsible for lost or missing forms. If you are working in a team, team members can upload forms for each other.  You can download these forms when you register online but it will help if you look at them before you start.  These forms are from a previous year so do not use them.

Project Pre-Approval

Projects involving any of the subjects in the list below require additional forms and pre-approval from the EWRSEF Scientific Review Committee. If you are using any of these subjects, please first use the ISEF Rules Wizard to determine which additional forms are required. ALL 2021 ISEF forms can be found in the Resource Center.

  • Human subjects (including surveys)
  • Vertebrate animals
  • Potentially hazardous biological agents
  • rDNA technologies
  • Fresh human or animal tissue
  • Blood
  • Body fluids
  • Controlled substances, devices, or equipment
  • Chemicals (i.e. hazardous, flammable, explosive or highly toxic, carcinogens, mutagens, and all pesticides)
  • Firearms
  • Radioactive substances
  • Radiation (i.e. X-ray or nuclear, unshielded ionizing radiation of 100-400 nm wavelength)

Abstract Submission

Participants must submit the required abstract online no later than March 1, 2021. Only one abstract needed per project. Login to submit your project abstract HERE.

Event Information

The compete fair schedule, campus map, and driving directions to the WSU Spokane Campus can be found on our Schedule page. Please bring the following to the fair:

  • Your project display
  • Your project notebook (journal)
  • Your research paper (recommended but not required)
  • All of your completed paperwork (please keep these with your display)

Judging

At the fair, you will be given 5 minutes to explain your project to a team of professional scientists and engineers. The category judges will evaluate your project using the WSSEF Judging Criteria.

Special awards judges will evaluate your project based on the criteria outlined by the sponsoring organization. Visit the Awards page for more information about special awards.

Ethics Statement

Scientific fraud and misconduct are not condoned at any level of research or competition. Plagiarism, use or presentation of other researcher’s work as one’s own and fabrication or falsification of data will not be tolerated. Fraudulent projects will fail to qualify for competition in affiliated fairs or the ISEF.

FAQ

Have questions about rules, guidelines, or registration?  Contact us or check out our Frequently Asked Questions.