Singapore Science and Engineering Fair (SSEF) 2009

The Singapore Science and Engineering Fair (SSEF) is a national competition organized by the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the Science Centre Singapore (SCS). It is intended for students who have conducted research over the past year to showcase their findings. Outstanding entries will represent Singapore in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) to be held on 10-15 May 2009 at Reno, Nevada, USA.

ACTIVITY SCHEDULE

RULES AND REGULATIONS

1. SSEF is open to ALL (Singaporeans, PRs and foreigners) secondary school and pre-university students studying in Singapore and who are between the age of 15 and 21 years as of 01 Jan 2009. However, winners of SSEF who are chosen to represent Singapore in the INTEL International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2009 in Reno, Nevada, USA, from 10 to 15 May 2009 , must be Singaporeans or PRs.

2. A*TS is open to secondary school and pre-university students, who are Singaporeans or Singapore Permanent Residents (PRs), between the age of 15 and 21 years as at 31 Dec 2008.

3. There is an Individual Category and a Team Category for SSEF. Each SSEF team must comprise at least TWO members and not exceed THREE members. A team project may NOT be converted to an individual project or vice versa. However, there is NO team category for A*TS . Only individual applicants (even if done as a group project) will be considered for A*TS.

4. ALL participants of A*TS are required to participate in SSEF . They will only need to complete the A*STAR Talent Search Entry Form and will be automatically admitted to SSEF. There is no need to complete the Singapore Science and Engineering Fair Entry Form .

5. Applicants may also choose to enter for SSEF only. They will only need to complete the Singapore Science and Engineering Fair Entry Form .
Group Entry Form
Individual Entry Form

6. All applicants need to register their projects online by 1 December 2008 at the following URL:
http://www.science.edu.sg/ssc/ssef-ats/index.htm
and submit their project entries with the appropriate entry forms and relevant documentation to the Singapore Science Centre by 16 January 2009. Project entries without online registration will not be considered. Late entries will not be entertained.

7. All project entries must be accompanied by the Checklist for Adult Sponsor (1), Student Checklist (1A) with research plan attached, and Approval Form (1B) and may require Regulated Research Institutional/Industrial Setting Form (1C). In addition, the following areas require review and approval by the Scientific Review Committee (SRC) or Institutional Review Board (IRB) prior to experimentation: Human Subjects, Vertebrate Animals, Potentially Hazardous Biological Agents (previously termed Potentially Pathogenic and Pathogenic Agents, Recombinant DNA (rDNA) and Human and Vertebrate Animal Tissue).

8. Projects involving Hazardous Chemicals, Activities or Devices (previously termed Hazardous Substances or Devices) require approval by a Designated Supervisor (an adult directly responsible for overseeing student experimentation) or Qualified Scientist (for projects involving DEA-controlled substances) prior to experimentation. A risk assessment is required of all projects in this research area using the Risk Assessment Form (3).

9. Research projects that are submitted for A*TS or SSEF should be projects that have been conducted between the period of 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2008.

10. Short-listed applicants will participate in SSEF 2009. The exhibition of projects constitutes part of the total score of the students' projects. To know more about the judging guidelines for SSEF, please click here.

11. The judges' decisions are final and no correspondence will be entertained.

12. All reports submitted will be kept by the organisers and will not be returned. Each applicant should keep a copy of his or her report for personal use. The applicant is not required to send in his project data book(s) but he should have it available for the exhibition and interviews (A*TS).

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

1. Projects requiring special approvals (see instructions below) need to be approved before commencement of the research.

2. Projects without online registration (deadline 1 Dec 08) will not be considered for the fair.

3. Instructions for submitting an entry can be found here .

4. Submit project report (4 copies) by 16 January 2009 to the Singapore Science Centre along with a copy of completed SSEF/A*TS entry form and the necessary forms.

( If you are submitting a team project for SSEF and individually for A*TS, you will need to fill in a SSEF entry form for your team, and a A*TS entry form for yourself)

5. Here are the forms to be submitted with your project. To download all the forms, please click here and for the rules please click here

For more information on the forms, please go to http://www.societyforscience.org/isef/students/forms_dates.asp

6. For ISEF/SSEF 2009 Rules and Regulations, please click here.
For more details on ISEF, please visit: http://www.societyforscience.org/isef/

7. Judging Criteria:

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

The deadline for submission of entry forms and projects with the relevant documentation is Friday, 16 January 2009 . However, students are strongly advised to complete and submit the entry form as early as possible.

The following items must be submitted with each application:
1. A research paper , which should include an abstract of no more than 250 words, in hard- and soft-copies . Four sets of hard-copies are required. For detailed information on the requirements of the research paper, please click here .

2. A 100-word description , in hard- and soft-copies, of the applicant's project written in an easily comprehensible manner, using non-technical terms for general readers. This will be used for publicity purposes. Four sets of hard-copies are required.

3. Checklist for Adult Sponsor (1), Student Checklist (1A) with research plan attached, and Approval Form (1B) .

The Regulated Research Institutional/Industrial Setting Form (1C) will be required only if work was conducted in an institutional or industrial setting at any time during the current ISEF project year.

Relevant documentation pertaining to projects involving Human Subjects, Vertebrate Animals, Potentially Hazardous Biological Agents and Hazardous Chemicals, Activities or Devices .
All forms are in hard-copy.

4. The Entry Form
Entry form(s) is/are in hard copy.

- The A*STAR Talent Search Entry Form is for applicants of A*TS. These applications will automatically be admitted to SSEF.

If all 3 members of the team project would like to take part in A*TS, they will have to submit 3 individual A*TS entry forms but register online only once as a team and submit the required documents as a team. If only one member of the team would like to take part in A*TS, the team will have to submit a SSEF entry form (team) and an A*TS entry form for the specific member who would like to participate in A*TS. Similarly, the required documents are to be submitted as a team.

For some general advices for A*TS applicants, please click here.

- The Singapore Science and Engineering Fair Entry Form is for applicants who want to enter for SSEF only. If the project is done individually, please submit SSEF Entry Form Individual Project. If the project is done as a team, please submit SSEF Entry Form Group Project.

5. Digital Photographs

- A softcopy of the individual applicant or all members of the team if it is a team application should be stored on the floppy disk/CD-R containing the softcopy of the research paper.

- The file-size of each colour photograph in JPEG format should be less than 100 kb with a dimension of 125 by 150 pixels.

- Label the floppy disk/CD-R with the project title.

Students are to ensure that the relevant sections of the Entry Form are completed.

Incomplete submissions may be rejected.

Applications are to be sent to the below address:

The Singapore Science Centre
c/o
A/Prof Lim Tit Meng
Fair Director (SSEF 2009)
15 Science Centre Road
Singapore 609081

Should you have any questions regarding your application, please do not hesitate to contact any of the following:

SSEF Award Winners 2009