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SLB SLB Workshops SLB members are eager to share their enthusiasm, experience, and knowledge with you in a series of interactive step-by-step workshops designed to help you produce a successful STEM project. Workshop topics focus on how to participate in the GSDSEF as well as the entire science fair process and the scientific method/engineering principles from start to finish - from coming up with a project idea, to putting together your science notebook, to designing your poster board, and to finally preparing you for judging. Experienced SLB members are also available to work with you on an individual basis - to answer your specific questions based on your own project. For 2025-26, SLB will be hosting most workshops via Zoom. Workshop information will be sent to your teachers. Zoom links to each workshop will be sent to those who RSVP. Workshop Schedule 2025-26 All workshops are scheduled on Saturdays from 9:30-10:30 AM. After a workshop is completed and its recording is ready, click the description to see the Workshop Video. Sept. 6, 2025 - Workshop #1- Finding an Idea Sept. 20, 2025 - Workshop #2- GSDSEF Student Account and SRC Process Oct. 11, 2025 - Workshop #3- Using the Scientific Method/Engineering Design Process: Problem to Results Dec. 6, 2025 - Workshop #4A- Data Analysis and Statistics- Basic Dec. 20, 2025 - Workshop #4B- Data Analysis and Statistics- Advanced Jan. 10, 2026 - Workshop #5- Screening- Digital Project Slidedeck and Notebook Feb. 14, 2026 - Workshop #6- Science Fair Display Backboard and Notebook March 7, 2026 - Workshop #7- In -person Science Fair Judging Practice ; 2:00-5:00pm; La Jolla/Riford Library, 7555 Draper Ave, La Jolla, CA 92037 [Note updated location and time as of Jan. 22] March 28, 2026 - Workshop #8- Post Fair Workshop Check out our GSDSEF YouTube page for more workshops!

SLB SLB Members 2025-2026 Student Leadership Board Board Officers: President - Arnav Dagar Vice President of Outreach - Shounak Ray Chaudhuri Vice President of Activities - William Gao Secretary - Adhiban Arulselvan Treasurer - Steven Chen 2025-26 SLB Members: First Name Last Name School Omar Abdulaziz Scripps Ranch High School Alexander Allport La Jolla High School Medha Aravind Del Norte High School Adhiban Arulselvan Scripps Ranch High School Dhruv Bantval Canyon Crest Academy Maya Bantval Canyon Crest Academy Mihir Bapat Del Norte High School Harshini Bharadwaj Not stated Charles Brum Cathedral Catholic High School Abhiram Chalamalasetty Canyon Crest Academy Shounak Ray Chaudhuri Francis Parker Hayden Chen Del Norte High School Steven Chen Canyon Crest Academy Zoey Chen Not stated Aaron Cooper Canyon Crest Academy Arnav Dagar Canyon Crest Academy Anabia Ehsan Not stated Leanne Fan Westview High School William Gao Canyon Crest Academy Risha Guha Del Norte High School David He Westview High School Abby Hensley Chula Vista High School Ethan Hu The Bishop's School Lucy Huang Torrey Pines High School Reema Jasim Not stated Jolina Jian Canyon Crest Academy Yaalini Kathir Canyon Crest Academy Riya Khushu Francis Parker Rebecca Leeman Torah High School Jaelyn Liang Westview High School Ricky Lim Canyon Crest Academy Anna Luo Canyon Crest Academy Tanya Mandyam Westview High School Ashwin Mantravadi Del Norte High School Nalin Marwah Del Norte High School Jeyanth Narayan Parthasarathy Canyon Crest Academy Janeiro Perry Health Sciences High & Middle College Tanvi Pyla Canyon Crest Academy Advita Rajagopalan Del Norte High School Parth Saxena Scripps Ranch High School Ritam Sen Francis Parker Ihan Sung Eastlake High School Siri Tipirneni Canyon Crest Academy Ella Xing The Bishop's School Henry Xu Torrey Pines High School Kailin Xuan The Bishop's School Matthew Yang The Cambridge School Lilian Zeng Del Norte High School Sophie Zeng The Bishop's School Amber Zhang The Bishop's School Amy Zhang Westview High School Austin Zhang Del Norte High School Elvin Zhang Del Norte High School Virginia Zhu Del Norte High School Ryan Zoch Rancho Bernardo High School For questions or information on our workshops, project advice/peer mentoring, and other Student Leadership Activities, please CONTACT US at: gsdsefslb@gmail.com For all other questions and information, please use the Contact Us button at the bottom of the webpage. SLB Advisor and Supervisor: Mr. Steve Rodecker, Fair Director, steve.rodecker@gsdsef.org

Latest News The 75th International Science and Engineering Fair Jun 6, 2025 The 75th International Science and Engineering Fair, the world's largest and most prestigious science competition, concluded with the Grand Awards ceremony in host city Columbus, Ohio. Read More The 71st Greater San Diego Science And Engineering Fair Jan 26, 2025 The 71st Greater San Diego Science And Engineering Fair Was Held in 2025 At The Balboa Park Activity Center, 2145 Park Blvd, On Wednesday, March 12. Read More

Past Results Fair Past Results 2025 - 71st Annual GSDSEF Results 2024 - 70th Annual GSDSEF Results 2023 - 69th Annual San Diego Science and Engineering Fair 2022 - 69th Annual San Diego Science and Engineering Fair

Information How to Participate: Quick Overview Quick Overview of GSDSEF Participation Steps (and suggested timeline) Detailed information can be gotten by logging into your student account and clicking on to the appropriate pages on the left hand column. You can also see this video on the GSDSEF Student Account and SRC Process What Where Completion Date 1. Read GSDSEF/ISEF Rules and Ethics Statements GSDSEF, ISEF Rules and the Ethics Statement September 2. Decide on a Project What makes a good STEM Fair project September-October 3. Teacher makes an account. THEN, Student makes an account Teacher registration page Student Registration page September 4. Fill in SRC (Scientific Review Committee) information Tab 1- Project Setup Tab 2- Project Details September-October 5. Determine whether your project needs additional safety (ISEF) Forms Tab 3- Forms Helper September-October 6. Submit Scientific/Safety Review Committee (SRC) online form and any necessary ISEF forms/approvals Tab 4- SRC Safety Form and ISEF Forms Upload (if necessary) September-November 7. Student, Parent, Teacher fill in and sign Information and Consent Tab 5- Consent and Policies September-November 8. After SRC approval, start on your project. ALL projects must go through SRC Review AND BE APPROVED BEFORE STARTING. You will receive an email indicating SRC Safety Approval. September- December 9. After completing your project -- Quality Screening with Digital Presentation. Download the Digital Presentation Template; complete and upload. Tab 6- Digital Presentation Upload. You will receive an email indicating Quality Screening Approval. January 10. After Screening Approval - Copy paste information into the Abstract. Tab 7- Abstract January-February 11. Payment - Review all previous information. Credit cards or school Purchase Orders only. Tab 8- Payment January- February 12. zFairs account set up for you. Upload your Digital Presentation and Digital Notebook for Judge’s Preview zFairs- February

Information Workshops (OLD, DO NOT USE) SLB members are eager to share their enthusiasm, experience, and knowledge with you in a series of interactive step-by-step workshops designed to help you produce a successful STEM project. Workshop topics focus on how to participate in the GSDSEF as well as the entire science fair process and the scientific method/engineering principles from start to finish - from coming up with a project idea, to putting together your science notebook, to designing your poster board, and to finally preparing you for judging. Experienced SLB members are also available to work with you on an individual basis - to answer your specific questions based on your own project. For 2025-26, SLB will be hosting most workshops via Zoom. Workshop information will be sent to your teachers. Zoom links to each workshop will be sent to those who RSVP. Workshop Schedule 2025-26 All workshops are scheduled on Saturdays from 9:30-10:30 AM Sept. 6, 2025 - Workshop #1- Finding an Idea Sept. 20, 2025 Workshop #2- GSDSEF Student Account and SRC Process Oct. 11, 2025 Workshop #3- Using the Scientific Method/Engineering Design Process: Problem-->Results Dec. 6, 2025 - Workshop #4A- Data Analysis and Statistics- Basic Dec. 17, 2025 Workshop #4B- Data Analysis and Statistics- Advanced Jan. 10, 2026 Workshop #5- Screening- Digital Project Slidedeck and Notebook Feb. 14, 2026 - Workshop #6- Science Fair Display Backboard and Notebook March 7, 2026 - Workshop #7- In -person Science Fair Judging Practice; 2:30-5:30pm; Tierrasanta Library March 28, 2026 - Workshop #8- Post Fair Workshop Check out our GSDSEF YouTube page for more workshops!

Behavioral & Social Sciences The science or study of the thought processes and behavior of humans and other animals in their interactions with the environment studied through observational and experimental methods. Subcategories : Clinical & Developmental Psychology Cognitive Psychology Neuroscience Physiological Psychology Sociology and Social Psychology Other/Multiple Subcategories Clinical and Developmental Psychology: The study and treatment of emotional or behavioral disorders. Developmental psychology is concerned with the study of progressive behavioral changes in an individual from birth until death. Cognitive Psychology: The study of cognition, the mental processes that underlie behavior, including thinking, deciding, reasoning, and to some extent motivation and emotion. Neuroscience: Studies of the neural basis of cognitive processes, including learning and memory, language and thought, perception, attention, and affect. It investigates the human brain, from the functional organization of large-scale cerebral systems to microscopic neurochemical processes. Physiological Psychology: The study of the biological and physiological basis of behavior. This field studies the neural mechanisms of perception and behavior through direct manipulation of the brain in controlled experiments. Sociology and Social Psychology: The study of human social behavior, especially the study of the origins, organization, institutions, and development of human society. Sociology is concerned with all group activities-economic, social, political, and religious. Includes studies of consumers and decision-making about a particular product/service or study of the need, attitude, and markets of a particular group. Other/Multiple: Studies in Behavioral and Social Science that do not fit in the above subcategories or which may involve multiple subcategories. Next Project Category Previous Project Category

Sponsors How To Support The Fair The GSDSEF Needs Your Support Since 1955, the Greater San Diego Science & Engineering Fair has been fostering creativity and innovation through inquiry and design. We celebrate students' STEM achievements and showcase how young minds can make an impact in the present and future. Why Contribute? The GSDSEF ... provides a forum for students to showcase their STEM research to the community. is a networking opportunity for students and the scientific, business, and academic communities. provides student recognition through awards and scholarships. provides an opportunity to advance to state, national, international, and other science and engineering competitions. By contributing to the GSDSEF, you are supporting the next generation of scientists, engineers, computer scientists, mathematicians, health-care professionals – the problem-solvers...doers...innovators...constructors – those who will make a positive difference in the world. GSDSEF_Brochure_for_Fundraising_ .pdf Download PDF • 1.06MB Become a Corporate Sponsor Premier - $25,000 and up • Major Sponsor of the GSDSEF • Introductory speech at Awards Ceremony, banner displayed • Name/Logo displayed on all GSDSEF digital and print literature Diamond - $15,000 - $24,999 • Presence on stage at Awards Ceremony, banner displayed • Name/Logo displayed on all GSDSEF digital and print literature Platinum- $10,000 - $14,999 • Mention at the Awards Ceremony, banner displayed Gold - $5,000 - $9,999 • Name/Logo displayed on all GSDSEF digital and print literature Silver - $2,500 - $4,999 • Name/Logo displayed on all GSDSEF digital and print literature Bronze - $1,000 - $2,499 • Name/Logo displayed on all GSDSEF digital and print literature Friends of GSDSEF - $999 and less • Name displayed on Sponsor page—no logo GSDSEF_Sponsorship_Levels .pdf Download PDF • 273KB Contact our team at sponsor@gsdsef.org to become a Corporate Sponsor. For individual or group donations, please contact us via the Contact Us Online link at the bottom of the page. Your support of the students of San Diego and Imperial Counties is greatly appreciated! The GSDSEF wishes to thank the following sponsors: Premier Sponsor $25,000 and up – Qualcomm Diamond Sponsors $15,000 - $24,999 – PECG (Professional Engineers in California Government), Xzom Platinum Sponsors $10,000 - $14,999 – ASML, Broadcom Foundation, General Atomics Science Education Foundation, Lilly, Walter J. and Betty C. Zable Foundation Gold Sponsors $5,000 - $9,999 – Thermo Fisher Scientific Silver Sponsors $2,500 - $4,999 – Collins Aerospace Systems, DRS Daylight Solutions, Future Forward Labs, Pfizer Bronze Sponsors $1,000 - $2,499 – Taiwanese American Foundation of S.D., Friends of GSDSEF In-Kind Sponsors – Fleet Science Center, San Diego County Office of Education, San Diego Wildlife Alliance GSDSEF is an all-volunteer, registered tax-exempt California non-profit 501 (c) 3 Corporation, operating as a Public Charity Status. We are totally dependent on donations from industry, business, and friends like you to make the science fair possible. EIN #23-7332855

SLB SLB Mentoring Program Mentoring Program Content

The 75th International Science and Engineering Fair The 75th International Science and Engineering Fair The 75th International Science and Engineering Fair, the world's largest and most prestigious science competition, concluded with the Grand Awards ceremony in host city Columbus, Ohio. The 75th International Science and Engineering Fair, the world's largest and most prestigious science competition, concluded with the Grand Awards ceremony in host city Columbus, Ohio. Over 30 million high school students from 1,600 affiliated fairs in 70 countries competed to qualify, of which only 1,700 students made it, including 10 from the Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair, led by GSDSEF Board Member, Treasurer and Judging Captain, Sany Zakharia. These finalists competed for $9m in awards, with the GSDSEF delegation winning a total of 7 awards, including 2nd place, 3rd place and two 4th places, for a total of $46,800. Detailed results below: Behavioral and Social Sciences: Hannah Im & Nupur Bhalla, Grade 11, Del Norte High School, "Optimizing Academic Burnout Mitigation: Statistical Modeling of Emotional Intelligence as a Protective Factor in Adolescents" - ISEF Finalist Biomedical and Health Sciences: Saanvi Dogra, Grade 11, Del Norte High School, "Uncovering Molecular Mechanisms for Treatment of Congenital Heart Defects through High-Content Genetic Perturbation Screens" - Grand Award: Fourth Award of $600 Anirudh Kalyanaraman, Grade 12, Mt. Carmel High School, "A Novel Treatment Approach to Mitigate Adverse Cardiovascular Effects of Burn Pit Exposure” - ISEF Finalist Lilian Zeng, Grade 11, Del Norte High School, "Identifying Bacteriophages, Nature's Own Secret Weapon Against Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria, for Achromobacter Treatment” - ISEF Finalist Biomedical Engineering: Kayley Xu, Grade 10, The Bishop's School, “Wearable Stethoscope Array for Cardiopulmonary Sound Localization and Interference Suppression Using Beamforming”. - Grand Award: Second Award of $2,400 - Special Award: Society for Science Alumni Award of $5k Computational Biology and Bioinformatics: Tarik Oguz, Grade 11, Del Norte High School, "Small Changes, Big Impact: miRNAs in Lung Cancer Detection" - Grand Award: Fourth Award of $600 Physics and Astronomy: Joe Smith, Grade 12, Stanford Online High School, “Lost in the Stars: Chemical Tagging of the Magellanic Clouds and Accreted Populations” - Grand Award: Third Award of $1,200 Plant Sciences: Anna Luo, Grade 11, Canyon Crest Academy, "Allelopathic Effects of Cynara cardunculus on Native Coastal Sage Scrub Species" - Special Award: The New American University ISEF Scholarship of $32k Robotics and Intelligent Machines: Ryan Rezaei, Grade 11, Canyon Crest Academy, “Symmetry-Preserving Variational Autoencoder and Latent Space Rectified Flow Diffusion for Accelerated Materials Discovery With Geometric Graph Neural Networks and Integrated Property Network Multi-Layer Perceptron" - Special Award: Midjourney of $5K We are extremely proud of all our ISEF finalists, congratulations! Read our press release.

Teachers Teacher Resources The following are a few resources for teachers and parents to help their students/children produce a successful science or engineering fair project. SECTION A: Rules and Guidelines SECTION B: Certification and Special Forms SECTION C: Science Fair Resources, Instructional Resources and Materials for Teachers, and GSDSEF Workshop Materials SECTION D: Links to Online Teaching Resources and Digital Libraries * Additional resources may be found on the Student Resources page. Section A: Rules and Guidelines GSDSEF Rules and Guidelines GSDSEF Categories and Descriptions ISEF Rule Book 2025-2026 .pdf Download PDF • 3.07MB Engineering_project_guidelines .pdf Download PDF • 210KB Computer_science_project_guidelines .pdf Download PDF • 328KB Math_project_guidelines .pdf Download PDF • 213KB projects_to_avoid .pdf Download PDF • 60KB ISEF Roles and Responsibilities of Students and Adults ISEF - Reasons Projects Don’t Qualify for ISEF Ethics Statement Section B: Certification and Special Forms Please find all the necessary ISEF forms on your teacher account . Section C: Science Fair Resources for Teachers How Science and Engineering Fair Projects Relate to the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core Standards: 3_dimensions_ngss_sep-science_fair .pdf Download PDF • 174KB Project Board Example and connections to NGSS .pdf Download PDF • 136KB NGSS_SE_cross_cutting_poster .pdf Download PDF • 188KB PBL-NGSS-CCSS-science_fair .pdf Download PDF • 861KB How to Do a Science Fair Project - Teaching the Scientific Method and Engineering Design: Science Buddies Teaching Resources Science Buddies - Science Fair Project Guide Science Fair - Engineering Project Guide How to Do A Science Fair Project Video Series from JPL/NASA GSDSEF WORKSHOPS and TEACHER-CREATED Instructional Resources and Materials Please go to GSDSEF YouTube page for workshop videos! RESOURCES, PRESENTATIONS, INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS - science_fair_topic_sheet_revised .pdf Download PDF • 151KB science_fair_journal_ullyott .pdf Download PDF • 183KB science_fair_project_ideas_2016 .pdf Download PDF • 93KB bvm_science_fair_dates_2017-_7th_grade_timeline .pdf Download PDF • 146KB matt_bessler_gsdsef_presentation .pptx Download PPTX • 380KB michelle_mardahl-_gsdsef_workshop_presentation .pptx Download PPTX • 1.35MB gina_sacaluso-cara_gsdsef_presentation .pptx Download PPTX • 9.67MB Additional Instructional Materials and Resource Guides: Sample Student Notebook .pdf Download PDF • 559KB How To Do a Project _ Flowchart .pdf Download PDF • 951KB Science_fair_guide_holt_rinehart_winston .pdf Download PDF • 161KB gsef-student-guide-how-to-do-a-science-fair-project .pdf Download PDF • 1.30MB How to Do a Science Fair Project - for Teachers, Students, and Parents (InformED Australia) American Psychological Association - Conducting Psychological Research for Science Fairs: A Teacher's Guide and Resource Manual Research at Home Resources by Society for Science & the Public (ISEF) Section D: Links to Teaching Resources and Digital Libraries Thoughtco Teaching Resources - In-depth articles and teacher resources that give you and your students the answers and information. Science Resources by Thoughtco Computer Science Resources by Thoughtco Math Resources by Thoughtco Teaching Engineering Tinkering, Simple Machines, Simple Electronics, Engineering, and Coding - Activities and Resources Understanding Science and How it really Works – Teaching Resources Teaching Resources - UC Berkeley SAGE: Science and Arts Gateway Education - Teaching and Learning Resources from University of Cornell JPL/NASA Teacher Resource Edutopia – Ten Websites for Science Teachers PBS LEARNING The National Digital Library Science News for Students Science Daily – Your source for latest research EurekAlert! The Global Source for Science News Smithsonian - Science/Nature Science Now UC Riverside Chemical Engineering Fun for Kids Sciencing Try Engineering A Kid's Guide to Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Earth & Environmental Science a) Earth Sciences Studies of the environment and its effect on organisms/systems, including investigations of biological processes such as growth and life span, as well as studies of Earth systems and their evolution. Subcategories : Atmospheric Science Climate Science Geosciences Water Science Other/Multiple Atmospheric Science: The study of the Earth’s atmosphere, its processes, the effects other systems have on the atmosphere, and the effects of the atmosphere on these other systems as well as meteorological investigations. Further investigation in this field relates to atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric physics, atmospheric changes (both long and short-term) that define average climates and their change over time, and upper layers of the atmosphere, where dissociation and ionization are important. Climate Science: Studies of Earth’s climate, particularly evidential study of climate change over a period of time. This field studies long-term trends in average meteorological conditions and changes in these averaged conditions from season to season, year to year, decade to decade. Geosciences: Studies of Earth’s land processes, including mineralogy, plate tectonics, volcanism, and sedimentology. Water Science: Studies of Earth’s water systems, including water resources, movement, distribution, and water quality. This field includes the occurrence, movement, abundance, distribution, and quality of subsurface waters and related geologic aspects of surface waters. Furthermore, it projects may also address water from the moment of precipitation until it evaporates into the atmosphere or is discharged into the ocean; for example, river systems and the impacts of flooding. Other/Multiple: Studies in Earth Sciences that do not fit in the above subcategories or which may involve multiple subcategories. b) Environmental Sciences: Management and Engineering Studies that engineer or develop processes and infrastructure to solve environmental problems in the supply of water, the disposal of waste, or the control of pollution. Subcategories : Bioremediation Environmental Effects on Ecosystems Land Reclamation Pollution Control Recycling and Waste Management Water Resources Management Other/Multiple Bioremediation: The use of biological agents, such as bacteria or plants, to remove or neutralize contaminants. This includes phytoremediation, constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment, biodegradation, etc. Environmental Effects on Ecosystems: Studies of the impact of environmental changes (natural or as a result of human interaction) on ecosystems, including empirical pollution studies. Land Reclamation: Studies that apply engineering principles and design techniques to restore land from wetlands, seas, lakes, deserts or mines, through drainage or irrigation to a more productive use or its previous undisturbed state. This subcategory also includes studies involving the restoration of land that is damaged by natural phenomena, such as erosion, or impaired by industrial and urban processes. Pollution Control: Studies that use engineering principles and design to prevent or control air, water and solid waste pollution. Recycling and Waste Management: Studies involving the extraction and reuse of useful substances from discarded items, garbage, or waste. The process of managing, and disposing of, wastes and hazardous substances through methodologies such as landfills, sewage treatment, composting, waste reduction, etc. Water Resources Management: Studies that apply engineering principles and design to the planning, developing, distributing and managing the optimum use of water resources. Studies in this subcategory might include applied surface and groundwater hydrology, forecasting and control of quantity and quality of water or simulation and modeling of water resource systems. Other/Multiple: Studies in Environmental Sciences: Management and Engineering that do not fit in the above subcategories or which may involve multiple subcategories. Next Project Category Previous Project Category