National JSHS - Program fact sheet and guidelines for students

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Eligibility rules - Regional and national symposia

Generally, students who present their research at regional and national symposia must demonstrate through the oral presentation and written report...

their original, creative, and innovative contributions to a research problem;

an understanding of the scientific and/or technological principles underlying the research problem;

appropriate research design, procedures, reproducibility of experimentation;

interpretation of data and conclusions.

See specific judging criteria.

Team projects. Students may present a report on work done as part of a class project, or as a science fair project or summer research project. However, students should report on their individual contributions to research. If students are part of a larger group, the presentation should focus on the individual contributions in the larger research project and properly acknowledge the contributions of other students, mentors, and/or teachers. For team research that cannot be divided into individual presentations, a team leader should be selected to present the results of the group work. In this case, all JSHS directives applying to individual research investigations will apply to group research investigations. In the event the group presenter of the winning regional group is unable to present at the National level, this opportunity will be passed on to the next ranking project. This decision is made since the judges' evaluations and scores pertain to the individual presenter.

Research involving non-human vertebrates or human subjects. Research involving non-human vertebrates or human subjects must be conducted under the supervision of an experienced teacher or research and follow state and federal regulatory guidance applicable to the humane and ethical conduct of such research. This must be acknowledged in the students' written report.

Scholarship eligibility

• Students must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States or U.S. territory to be eligible for the government-sponsored scholarship awards.
• Foreign nationals may continue to present their research at JSHS regional and national symposia for the recognition of outstanding research pursuits.
• The total scholarship awards available through JSHS are capped at a maximum total of $30,000 per individual student winner.
• Former National JSHS winners and/or foreign nationals may continue to present their research for the recognition of outstanding research pursuits.
• Additionally, former London Forum participants will not be eligible to again attend the London Forum and must allow the runner-up finalist to attend.
• Scholarships are awarded to only one student. Student presenters who are part of a team must notify the JSHS of which student finalist will receive scholarship funding should the team presentation earn regional or national awards.

Scholarship conditions

Student scholarship recipients must...

• Demonstrate full-time enrollment as an undergraduate student at an accredited institution;
• Pursue an undergraduate degree in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics discipline, as defined by the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council in their combined directory titled Organization and Members;
• Maintain at least a B (3.0) equivalent grade average;

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