California State Science Fair
Affiliate Rules

No Constraints

We impose no rules on the grade levels of student participants.

However, it must be remembered that the CSSF admits only those students in grades 6-12, regardless of prizes won in affiliated fairs or grades included in a particular panel.

We impose no rules on the categories which affiliated fairs may use.

Some affiliates do, in fact, use the same categories, but this is by choice. Affiliated fairs with a significantly smalller number of projects than CSSF will probably find it to their advantage to use a smaller number of categories.

We impose no rules on the acceptability of team projects.

Some affiliates accept team projects, while others do not. Those who do accept team projects should be aware that the number of team members on projects accepted to CSSF is limited to three (3) beginning in 2004. Projects with N team members at the qualifying fair must have all N members included in the CSSF application. Changing the author list of a project between fairs is not permitted.

We impose no rules on the method of selecting qualifying students.

Each affiliated fair is the best judge of its own projects and is therefore the appropriate agency to determine the method of selecting qualifying and alternate projects to CSSF.

Inclusiveness

In return for this inclusiveness, CSSF guarantees not to recognize any fair other than the current affiliate within the same geographical domain.

Nominating Winners to CSSF

• The science fair project must have won a category award determined by the affiliated fair itself. Important: Special Awards, typically given by external organizations, e.g. professional scientific groups or community groups, although presented at the affiliated fair, are not determined by the affiliate itself, and thus do not count as category awards.
• The project must be specifically selected and identified by the affiliated fair as eligible to apply to CSSF. Qualification lists from each affiliate will be posted on the CSSF web site as they are delivered to CSSF.

Satisfaction of the the first requirement is not a guarantee of the second because CSSF has established a limit to the number of projects which may be entered from each affiliate. Originally CSSF set the requirement that students had to receive a first, second, or third place award, but this requirement was impractical given the diverse character of our affiliates. In practice now, some affiliates are able to qualify projects receiving honorable mention category awards, while some others may not be able to qualify more than half of their first place award winners, though both of these extremes are uncommon.

Reporting Requirement

The California State Science Fair requires that after each affiliated fair is completed, a list of all students who have been selected as eligible to apply to CSSF must be communicated to us. This list must include the names of all students participating in team projects, and should be comprehensive of all selected students -- that is, it should not be restricted to those students who have already indicated a desire to enter CSSF. Such a restriction would require subsequent additions as students change their minds, an unwelcome administrative burden.

A template for reporting qualifying and alternate students is available here.. This template is an Excel 5.0 spreadsheet. However, if use of this template is not compatible with your fair's abilities, other report forms will be accepted.