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About Your Project

First, determine if your research project meets the eligibility guidelines. Then register for the Competition. You'll need to submit a Research Report about your project, as well as a few additional forms:

Students who are selected as regional and national finalists also need to prepare for the:

Project Eligibility 

Before you begin, determine that your project is eligible for the Competition.

  • Each student can submit only one research project, either as an individual competitor or as a member of a team.
  • You may submit a project that has been or will be submitted to other science Competitions.
  • You may submit a research paper that has been or will be published, as long as you retain the rights.
  • To resubmit a project that already has been submitted to the Siemens Competition in the past, you must be able to demonstrate how the research has been advanced. This information is required during registration.
  • Projects that violate laws or school regulations--or place any student, judge, or observer in danger--are not eligible.

Project Topics

Research Reports may be submitted on projects in the fields of mathematics, engineering, biological, and physical sciences. They may also involve combinations of disciplines such as:

  • Astrophysics
  • Biochemistry
  • Bioengineering
  • Biology
  • Biophysics
  • Botany
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Chemistry
  • Civil Engineering
  • Computer Science
  • Earth and Atmospheric Science
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Environmental Science and Engineering
  • Genetics
  • Geology
  • Materials Science/Nanoscience
  • Mathematics
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Microbiology
  • Nutritional Science
  • Physics
  • Toxicology

Social and behavioral science research projects are not eligible. Social science is considered to be the study of society or social behavior. Behavioral science is considered any project that involves the study of the actions and reactions of humans and animals through observation and experimental methods.

Neuroscience projects—based on the underlying sciences of biology, chemistry, and physics-are allowed.

Projects with Human Subjects and Other Vertebrates

The Siemens Competition recognizes that laboratory research using animals, human subjects or both has led to important discoveries. Because this is a high school competition, however, the program has set guidelines as to what is and is not allowable for purposes of entering this competition. Therefore, students must understand and follow the guidelines below.

For the purpose of this Competition, live vertebrates include humans, mammalian embryo or fetus, bird eggs within three days (72 hours) of hatching, and all other vertebrates at hatching or birth. Section V of the Mentor Form, Human Subjects/Animal Subjects or Other Vertebrate Certification, must be completed by the advisor, mentor or supervising scientist. In addition, the student must answer the Qualification Questions for Vertebrate Animals/Human Subjects, as explained under Additional Required Materials.

Projects that involve in any way, including testing and questioning, the use of live human subjects or other live vertebrates or the fluids, cells, tissues or organs from vertebrates are accepted only under the following conditions:

  1. The research project is conducted in a registered institution or laboratory in the United States where human or animal experimentation is authorized. The mentor(s) is required to provide the following information on the certification form:
  • Name of the research institution.
  • Title of the study.
  • In the case of human subjects, Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval number and approval date; a high school IRB is not permitted.
  • In the case of other vertebrate animals, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approval number and approval date.
  1. The vertebrate animals cannot be euthanized for the sole purpose of the student's research project. Fluids, cells, tissues and organs may be used only if the animals were euthanized for another purpose.
  2. Projects using established human or animal cell lines do not require IACUC or IRB approval.

Research projects conducted outside of the United States must follow the same guidelines listed above when using live human subjects or other live vertebrates or the fluids, cells, tissues or organs from vertebrates in accordance with the following:

  • The research must be done in an institution that is affiliated with a U.S. registered institution or laboratory. The mentor must provide an IRB or IACUC approval number; or
  • The country where the research is done must have, at a minimum, guidelines equivalent to the United States. The mentor must provide evidence of this. In place of an IRB or IACUC approval number, the mentor must provide a copy of the official certification used in that country and specifically for that research project. If the country or affiliate institution has a federal-wide assurance number, please provide. The documentation must be in English.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a fundamental value of the Siemens Competition and scientific research. We expect the research report, presentation slides, and poster to be your own work. If you are using text or images from someone else, you are expected to ensure that all facts, techniques, images, and information (including the Internet) are properly cited. It is not sufficient to simply modify the words of an original source. If you have used the essential idea, you must properly cite the source.

In addition, all of the materials submitted to the Siemens Competition, including without limitation the findings, results, conclusions, discoveries, research, data, software, code and all other matters related to the materials, must satisfy the principles of academic and scientific honesty and integrity and cannot be designed, engineered, altered or modified in any way to fraudulently or illegitimately produce (whether intentionally or unintentionally) a dishonest result.

Violations of academic integrity will result in disqualification. The Competition uses specific procedures, as part of the judging process, to detect plagiarized materials. If a Research Report is found to have improper citations or if citations are omitted, intentionally or unintentionally, the College Board and the Siemens Foundation will disqualify you from the competition and notify your high school about the disqualification.  Grounds for disqualification may include but are not limited to plagiarism, claims of novelty and/or substantial significance that cannot be supported, and improper use of vertebrates (if applicable).  Disqualification may occur after the end of the Competition, after winners are selected and after scholarship awards have been provided.

Sharing Your Results

Research projects and findings are the property of the students. However, the Research Reports submitted to the Competition are not returned.  You agree to permit the Siemens Foundation and the College Board to utilize and share the reports, including parts thereof, with third parties as it deems appropriate.

Students selected as Regional or National Finalists grant the Siemens Foundation nonexclusive, nonroyalty bearing worldwide rights to showcase the project design, results, and findings, as well as the student(s) themselves who worked on the project.

By participating in the Competition, the competitors agree to have their photos taken and used publicly and to have their names used publicly with respect to the Competition.