Project Categories

EWRSEF uses the same categorization as ISEF. Each project must be entered into one of the 20 science, math, and engineering categories below. Many projects can easily fit into more than one ISEF category, therefore, it is your decision to choose the category that most accurately describes your project.

Before selecting your category, ask yourself the following questions:

Who will be the most qualified to judge my project? What area of expertise is the most important for the judge to have? (For example, a medical background or an engineering background?)
What is the emphasis of my project? What characteristic of my project is the most innovative, unique or important? (For example, is it the application in medicine or the engineering of the machine?)

Please note: Fair officials reserve the right to combine similar categories into larger judging groups to streamline the judging process.

ANIMAL SCIENCES (Code: ANIM)
This category includes all aspects of animals and animal life, animal life cycles, and animal interactions with one another or with their environment. Examples of investigations included in this category would involve the study of the structure, physiology, development, and classification of animals, animal ecology, animal husbandry, entomology, ichthyology, ornithology, and herpetology, as well as the study of animals at the cellular and molecular level which would include cytology, histology, and cellular physiology.

Subcategories:
Animal Behavior, Cellular Studies, Development, Ecology, Genetics, Nutrition and Growth, Physiology, Systematics and Evolution

BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES (Code: BEHA)
The science or study of the thought processes and behavior of humans and other animals in their interactions with the environment studied through observational and experimental methods.

Subcategories:
Clinical & Developmental Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Physiological Psychology, Sociology and Social Psychology

BIOCHEMISTRY (Code: BCHM)
The study of the chemical basis of processes occurring in living organisms, including the processes by which these substances enter into, or are formed in, the organisms and react with each other and the environment.

Subcategories:
Analytical Biochemistry, General Biochemistry, Medicinal Biochemistry, Structural Biochemistry

BIOMEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES (Code: BMED)
This category focuses on studies specifically designed to address issues of human health and disease. It includes studies on the diagnosis, treatment, prevention or epidemiology of disease and other damage to the human body or mental systems. Includes studies of normal functioning and may investigate internal as well as external factors such as feedback mechanisms, stress or environmental impact on human health and disease.

Subcategories:
Disease Diagnosis, Disease Treatment, Drug Development and Testing, Epidemiology, Nutrition, Physiology and Pathology

BIOMEDICAL Engineering (Code: ENBM)
Projects that involve the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes including diagnosis, monitoring and therapy. Prominent biomedical engineering applications include the development of biocompatible prostheses, various diagnostic and therapeutic medical devices ranging from clinical equipment to micro-implants, common imaging equipment such as MRIs and EEGs, regenerative tissue growth, pharmaceutical drugs and therapeutic biologicals.

Subcategories:
Dismaterials and Regenerative Medicine, Biomechanics, Biomedical Devices, Biomedical Imaging, Cell and Tissue Engineering,

CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (Code: CELL)
This is an interdisciplinary field that studies the structure, function, intracellular pathways, and formation of cells. Studies involve understanding life and cellular processes specifically at the molecular level.

Subcategories:
Cell Physiology, Genetics, Immunology, Molecular Biology, Neurobiology

CHEMISTRY (Code: CHEM)
Studies exploring the science of the composition, structure, properties, and reactions of matter not involving biochemical systems.

Subcategories:
Analytical Chemistry, Computational Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Materials Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry

COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY AND BIOINFORMATICS (Code: CBIO)
Studies that primarily focus on the discipline and techniques of computer science and mathematics as they relate to biological systems. This includes the development and application of data-analytical and theoretical methods, mathematical modeling and computational simulation techniques to the study of biological, behavior, and social systems.

Subcategories:
Biomedical Engineering, Computational Biomodeling, Computational Evolutionary Biology, Computational Neuroscience, Computational Pharmacology, Genomics

EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES (Code: EAEV)
Studies of the environment and its effect on organisms/systems, including investigations of biological processes such as growth and life span, as well as studies of Earth systems and their evolution.

Subcategories:
Atmospheric Science, Climate Science, Environmental Effects on Ecosystems, Geosciences, Water Science

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS (Code: EBED)
Studies involving electrical systems in which information is conveyed via signals and waveforms for purposes of enhancing communications, control and/or sensing.

Subcategories:
Circuits, Internet of Things, Microcontrollers, Networking and Data, Communication, Optics, Sensors, Signal Processing

ENERGY: CHEMICAL (Code: EGCH)
Studies involving biological and chemical processes of renewable energy sources, clean transport, and alternative fuels.

Subcategories:
Alternative Fuels, Computational Energy Science, Fossil Fuel Energy, Fuel Cells and Battery Development, Microbial Fuel Cells, Solar Power

ENERGY: PHYSICAL (Code: EGPH)
Studies of renewable energy structures/processes including energy production and efficiency.

Subcategories:
Hydro Power, Nuclear Power, Solar, Sustainable Design, Thermal Power, Wind

ENGINEERING MECHANICS (Code: ENMC)
Studies that focus on the science and engineering that involve movement or structure. The movement can be by the apparatus or the movement can affect the apparatus.

Subcategories:
Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computational Mechanics, Control Theory, Ground Vehicle Systems, Industrial Engineering-Processing, Mechanical Engineering, Naval Systems

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING (Code: ENEV)
Studies that engineer or develop processes and infrastructure to solve environmental problems in the supply of water, the disposal of waste, or the control of pollution.

Subcategories:
Bioremediation, Land Reclamation, Pollution Control, Recycling and Waste Management, Water Resources Management

MATERIALS SCIENCE (Code: MATS)
The study of the characteristics and uses of various materials with improvements to their design which may add to their advanced engineering performance.

Subcategories:
Biomaterials, Ceramic and Glasses, Composite Materials, Computation and Theory, Electronic, Optical, and Magnetic Materials, Nano Materials, Polymers

MATHEMATICS (Code: MATH)
The study of the measurement, properties, and relationships of quantities and sets, using numbers and symbols. The deductive study of numbers, geometry, and various abstract constructs, or structures.

Subcategories:
Algebra, Analysis, Combinatorics, Graph Theory, and Game Theory; Geometry and Topology, Number Theory, Probability and Statistics

MICROBIOLOGY (Code: MCRO)
The study of micro-organisms, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, prokaryotes, and simple eukaryotes as well as antimicrobial and antibiotic substances.

Subcategories:
Antimicrobial and Antibiotics, Applied Microbiology, Bacteriology, Environmental Microbiology, Microbial Genetics, Virology

PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY (Code: PHYS)
Physics is the science of matter and energy and of interactions between the two. Astronomy is the study of anything in the universe beyond the Earth.

Subcategories:
Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics, Astronomy and Cosmology, Biological Physics, Computational Physics and Astrophysics, Condensed Matter and Materials, Instrumentation. Magnetics, Electromagnetics and Plasmas, Mechanics, Nuclear and Particle Physics, Optics, Lasers, Masers, Quantum Computation, Theoretical Physics

PLANT SCIENCES (Code: PLNT)
Studies of plants and how they live, including structure, physiology, development, and classification. Includes plant cultivation, development, ecology, genetics and plant breeding, pathology, physiology, systematics and evolution.

Subcategories:
Agronomy, Growth and Development, Ecology, Genetics/Breeding, Pathology, Physiology, Systematics and Evolution

ROBOTICS AND INTELLIGENT MACHINES (Code: ROBO)
Studies in which the use of machine intelligence is paramount to reducing the reliance on human intervention.

Subcategories:
Biomechanics, Cognitive Systems, Control Theory, Robot Kinematics, Machine Learning

SYSTEMS SOFTWARE (Code: SOFT)
The study or development of software, information processes or methodologies to demonstrate, analyze, or control a process/solution.

Subcategories:
Algorithms, Cybersecurity, Databases, Programming Languages, Operating Systems

TRANSLATIONAL MEDICAL SCIENCE (Code: TMED)
Projects that aim to improve human health and longevity by translating novel discoveries in the biomedical sciences into effective activities and tools for clinical and public health use. Bi-directional in concept, projects can be those developed through basic research moving toward clinical testing (bench-to-bedside) or projects that provide feedback about the applications of new treatments and how they can be improved (beside-to-bench).

Subcategories:
Disease Detection and Diagnosis, Disease Prevention, Disease Treatment and Therapies, Drug Identification and Testing, Pre-Clinical Studies, Other

Project Categories

EWRSEF CATEGORIES: