Judges and General Volunteers
The Austin Energy Regional Science Festival is a competition for students from 23 school districts and 12 counties who are advancing from their local schools and is among the largest of the 13 regional science fairs held in Texas. More than 3,500 third - twelfth grade students and their families attend each year. The festival offers a public viewing of the science projects, educational booths and scientific demonstrations for the kids. It is a valuable way to support our community by investing in our most important resource, our future.
Annually, we need approximately 250 general volunteers, 200 Elementary judges (Elementary) (3rd - 6th) and 350 judges for the Junior/Senior Divisions (middle/high school).
If you have questions about being a judge or general volunteer before registering online, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Students submit their projects in one of 18 scientific categories. Judging is competitive and the top two winners in each category from both divisions advance to the state fair. The overall top six projects in the Senior Division, called "Best of Fair", advance directly to the international competition. About 7-8 projects are assigned to each group of judges (typically consisting of 4-5 people). Judges will be able to preview student documentation prior to the scheduled interviews. Each judging team will interview students individually; after that, judges will confer and jointly determine the ranking. Senior categories will be judged on Thursday, Feb 23, from 8 am to noon; Junior ones that same afternoon, from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. We offer one in-person and one online orientation session each in the weeks leading up to the fair.
Because judging is competitive, we need subject matter experts to evaluate the projects. About 7-8 projects are assigned to each group of judges (typically consisting of 3 people). After a group has interviewed their assigned students, group members discuss the merit of each project and jointly determine the ranking. We offer orientation sessions in the weeks leading up to the fair. Links to the abstracts will be made available prior to the fair.
Junior Division: Undergraduate (3rd year and above) and graduate students, as well as professionals with either a degree or 3 years of experience in the applicable science category
Senior Division: Graduate students, professionals with either a degree or 5 years of experience in the applicable science category.
Elementary students submit their projects by grade level; each one is judged on its own merit and receives a 1st, 2nd or 3rd rating ribbon. Each judge is assigned six to seven projects. Elementary projects will be judged on Saturday, Feb 25, 5th-6th graders from 8 am to 10:15; 3rd-4th graders from 10:30 am to 1 p.m. We offer one in-person and one online orientation session each in the weeks leading up to the fair.
Adults with a good general education and the ability to talk to young children.
Judges
Any person knowledgeable in the sciences or teaching fields may volunteer as a judge at the elementary level. For the Junior and Senior levels we are looking for judges who have experience in specific fields of study that correspond to one of the Regeneron ISEF science project categories.
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General Volunteers
Volunteers need no specific qualifications, but should be comfortable interacting with students, young adults as well as their parents, patience and the ability to smile even if your feet hurt.. We are looking for people who can help out with tasks such as registration, parking and unloading, setup, ribbon hanging, judging logistics, etc. Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.