CompetifyHub

By Satya Kokonda

With the rise of research in high school communities, science research seems like a formidable task, but after this blog, you’ll see that it’s not that daunting. Now other blogs may just teach you how to compete, but here at Competify, we teach you not only how to compete but how to win, so stay reading if you want to be one of the next grand prize winners. 

“Here at Competify, we teach you not only how to compete but how to win”

Why science research?

Science Research is needed to progress society and collectively create solutions to complex problems. During research you learn how to ask proper questions, and learn the methods to answer them while exploring your passions and demonstrating proficiency in science. During research, you are not only learning, you are potentially making a difference in your field.

The process:

Finding your competition:

Each region has their own regional contest, where you can find an affiliated fair.

Research (and science as a whole) can be an intimidating field, but we’re here to break it down for you step by step. 

1. Choosing a Topic

If you want a strong chance for competing at ISEF, you have to choose an ISEF category (cap’t obvious, I know). Regeneron ISEF 2024 has 22 Categories, available at the Society for Science website.

The best projects contain unique research not done by anyone else in that field. Every student at ISEF has read many papers and has a nuanced and precise paper that contains most of the following:

1. Impact, your paper improves society in some way. This often tends to be saving lives, but can also be saving money or even improving the scientific community by solving a difficult problem (the last one is very common for mathematics projects).

2. Uniqueness, remember that there is a judge on the other side who has been listening to hundreds of other presentations, so make sure you are doing something different. This changes by year, but recently it means being a bit wary of AI. 

3. Precision, if you are doing a cancer based project, the search “predicting cancer using AI” gives over 2.2 million results, narrowing it down to a more unique idea would allow you to stand out. Doing that background research in the topic allows for more precise topic choices which would seem more realistic.

2. Doing the research:

This is when you do the actual experiment, make sure you have reviewed the rules/ forms, and confirm your experiment follows the guidelines. 

Your process would be unique to each project, but make sure that you are taking notes of the following:

1. Problems/ Complications of your project: judges know that science is hard, and that as High Schoolers, there are likely inaccuracies, so being able to  recollect and present them in a way that allows you to seem both knowledgeable and open to learning is crucial.

2. Your process: What, Where, How and Why are the biggest things that you will be asked upon, this also allows for you to seem more involved in your research process, and actively making decisions to improve your project. 

3. Interesting Observations: did something not go exactly as planned, what did you notice that you might be able to elaborate on. 
   

While the process can be challenging, it is also deeply rewarding, offering opportunities to solve real-world problems and spark innovation. Embrace curiosity, value the rigor of the method, and remember that each step, no matter how small, brings us closer to uncovering new truths and advancing human progress.