National American Indian Virtual Science and Engineering Fair

National American Indian Virtual Science and Engineering Fair

AISES is hosting its second virtual science and engineering fair this spring!  The National American Indian Virtual Science and Engineering Fair (NAIVSEF) is a Society for Science and the Public (SSP) affiliated science fair and as such is part of the larger SSP fair network. The NAIVSEF differs from other SSP-affiliated fairs in that it is a “Virtual Science Fair”.   Unlike live fairs, virtual fairs do not require travel as the fair and judging are conducted online and via teleconference calls.

Participants submit their projects as videos and slideshows online.  Last year’s winning entries can be viewed here:  http://www.aises.org/programs/pre-college   AISES awards cash prizes to senior and junior division winners and also pays the travel and registration fees for the Senior Division Grand Award winners and their sponsors to attend the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (this year being held in Pittsburgh, PA).

AISES permits students from 5th-12th grades to participate in its NAIVSEF event. There are two categories for entrants, Senior Division (defined as grades 9-12) and Junior Division (defined as grades 5-8).  Per ISEF rules, only high school students (grades 9-12) may go on to participate in the ISEF.  Each division has its own timeline.  Fair days (the dates teleconference interview calls are held) for Senior Division are March 28-29, 2015, whereas, fair days for Junior Division are April 25-26, 2015.

NAIVSEF projects may be submitted by individual students or teams of up to two students.  Students must either be an AISES Pre-College member or a student attending an AISES Pre-College Affiliate School to participate.

Registration:  Students will register for this fair online. High school students will follow ISEF International Rules and Guidelines (https://member.societyforscience.org/document.doc?id=398) regulations and will submit ISEF forms.  Middle school teams will submit forms that are less rigorous but which introduce them to the ISEF standards. Registrations are considered complete when all forms and documents have been completed and uploaded. For time/date stamp considerations, the completion date/time is used to determine when the entry was received. This event is limited to 100 high school projects and 75 middle school projects.

The “AISES NAIVSEF Policies, Procedures and Rules”, the NAIVSEF timeline, NAIVSEF forms, and a link to our online registration platform will be posted on our website by February 2, 2015.

The registration fee is $25.00 per High School (Senior Division) project (not per student) or $10.00 per Middle School (Junior Division) project.

NAIVSEF Final Timelines: 

HIGH SCHOOL (SENIOR DIVISION)

Online registration	February 2, 2015 to February 13, 2015
First SRC review process completed	February 23, 2015
Second SRC review (Paperwork Day) completed	March 6, 2015
Submission of SRC approved projects videos/slideshows	March 10, 2015 to March 12, 2015
Interview date/time notices sent by email	March 17, 2015
Finalist interviews via teleconference calls	March 28 and 29, 2015
Winners notified and announced	April 8, 2015
Winning projects posted on AISES website	May 2015

MIDDLE SCHOOL (JUNIOR DIVISION)

Online registration	February 25, 2015 to March 6, 2015
Paperwork Day (all paperwork reviewed)	April 3, 2015
Submission of approved projects videos/slideshows	April 13, 2015 to April 15, 2015
Interview date/time notices sent by email	April 17, 2015
Interviews via teleconference calls	April 25 and 26, 2015
Winners notified and announced	May 8, 2015
Winning projects posted on AISES website	June 2015

For more information check our website: http://www.aises.org/events/national-american-indian-virtual-science-engineering-fair