Deadline: May 18, 2015
The Google Science Fair is a global online science and technology competition open to individuals and teams from ages 13 to 18. This is a skill contest where eligible students will be invited to submit their science projects at a google designated website to compete for prizes.
Entrants can submit Projects in any one (1) of the following topics as a main topic and up to two (2) subtopics:
- Natural Sciences Category: Flora & Fauna/Food Science/Earth & Environmental Sciences
- Physical Design & Engineering Category: Inventions & Innovation/ Electricity & Electronics/Robotics
- Pure Sciences Category: Biology/Chemistry/Physics, Behavioral & Social Sciences
- Space & Physics Category: Energy & Space/Astrophysics
- Computer Science & Math Category: Computer Science/Math
Eligibility
- Competition is open to individuals born between 19 February 1996 and 18 February 2002 (inclusive).
- The Competition is not open to residents of Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, the Crimea Region, and any other U.S. sanctioned country and is void where prohibited by law.
- Previous Grand Prize Winners of Google Science Fair are not eligible to participate in Google Science Fair 2015.
Team eligibility as of the day the team leader registers for the Competition:
- All team members must meet the eligibility requirements of the competition.
- All team members must complete and receive parental or guardian consent (as indicated above).
- Team members may be comprised of entrants from different schools, cities and countries.
- A team may be comprised of entries from either age category. The oldest team member will determine age category placement.
Prizes
The 20 finalists, along with a parent or guardian, with travel to Google headquarters in Mountain View, CA to present their project to the judges and compete for all of the awards listed below
Grand Prize: The Grand Prize winner will receive $50,000 in scholarship funding. The $50,000 Google scholarship is intended to further the Grand Prize winner’s education. If a team wins the prize, the scholarship’s value will be divided equally among the teammates.
Finalist Prizes: The 20 global finalists will receive a variety of exciting prize including
- A LEGO education goodie bag
- free 12-month subscription to Scientific American Magazine
- Free 12 month Geographic Subscription
- A google goodie bag
Scientific American Innovator Award: This honors a project in the pure sciences.Scientific American will give $25,000 in funding and a year’s worth of mentoring to the winner of the Scientific American Innovator Award.
The Google Technologist Award: This award celebrates a project which has the potential to change the world, through outstanding and innovative work in the field of computer science and/or math.The winner will be awarded $25,000 in funding by Google, to help develop their project, along with a year-long mentorship from a Googler in a related field and a visit to their home office
The National Geographic Explorer Award: This award honors a project in the natural sciences.The winner, along with a parent or guardian, will travel on a 10-day National Geographic Expedition to the Galápagos Archipelago, “Darwin’s living laboratory” and home to an abundance of wildlife. Isolated from the mainland for millions of years, these unique islands offer the opportunity to walk among animals unfazed by your presence.
The Virgin Galactic Pioneer Award: This award honors a project in the area of space and physics.The award winner will be taken on a tour of Virgin Galactic, Mojave Air and Spaceport in Mojave, California to meet the extraordinary group of engineers turning the Virgin Galactic dream into reality, as well as given the unique opportunity to get acquainted with our new spaceship.
The Incubator Award: this award celebrates a student between the ages of 13 and 15 whose project shows extraordinary promise in a field of science.The winner will receive $10,000 from Google and year of mentorship to further develop his/her project.
The Community Impact Award: this award honors a project that makes a practical difference in his or her community by addressing an environmental, health or resources challenge. To help develop their project, the winner will be awarded $10,000 in funding and a year-long mentorship from Scientific American.
The Inspiring Educator Award: This award honors the contributions of one outstanding educator who goes above and beyond to encourage their students to achieve great things.The winner will receive a $10,000 classroom grant from Google and a $5,000 gift card for educational products from LEGO Education
The LEGO Education Builder Award: This award honors a student who uses an innovative, hands-on approach to solve some of the greatest engineering challenges.
- The winner, along with a parent or guardian, will travel to The LEGO Group headquarters in Billund, Denmark, where the student will meet with LEGO Education employees and designers.
- The student will tour the LEGO Manufacturing facilities, LEGO Idea House and receive tickets to LEGOLAND Denmark.
- The winner will also receive a classroom set for their school of the LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3 along with curriculum.
- They will also receive a custom LEGO brick build designed by one of the LEGO Education designers in Billund, Denmark.
- Additionally, the student will have access to work with a LEGO Education executive for 6 months as a mentor to learn how to launch a business and the art of entrepreneurship.
How to Enter
You may participate in only one (1) Entry Submission, either as an Entrant, Team Leader or Team Member.
A. ENTERING THE COMPETITION AS AN INDIVIDUAL:
- Sign up for a Google Account: To register for a Google account, go to google accounts and follow the instructions provided.
- Once you have a Google account, go to google science fair and register. You will be asked to input your Google account email address and password.
- You will then be taken to your Project Dashboard. Whenever you log in using your Google account details at google science fair, you will arrive on this page where you can enter and review your registration information, request parental or guardian consent, create, edit and submit your final Project.
Register: Complete requested information about yourself and your Project in the Registration section before creating your Project. You may edit this later. Click the box stating that you have read, accept, and agree to be bound by these Official Rules and terms.
Creating your Project
- Upon completion of registration you may begin working on your Project. The Project must follow the technical, creative, and legal entry requirements set out in these Official Rules and the googlesciencefair.com Site (which are incorporated herein by reference).
- You will be required to complete all sections of the Project Site.
Request parental or guardian consent
- You may begin working on your Project after completing the Registration process, however, you may not submit an entry for judging until you have requested and received parental or guardian consent. Visit the “For Parents” section at googlesciencefair.com for more information and to begin the parental or guardian consent process.
- Once you have done this, your parent or guardian will receive an email from Google with instructions on how they can give their consent for you to participate. The Project will not be judged unless this consent is received.
- Parental (or guardian) consent is a requirement of all entrants. Google must receive parental (or guardian) consent for you to participate before you are eligible to submit an entry. Parental or guardian consent is also required for you to use Google products and services in connection with and as part of participation in the Competition.
B. ENTERING THE COMPETITION AS A TEAM:
- To enter the competition, all team members must have or must create a free Google Account. To register for a Google account, go to google accounts and follow the instructions provided
- Once all team members have a Google account, choose one of the team members to be the Team Leader.
- As Team Leader, go to google science fair and register. Team leader will be asked to input their Google account, email address and password.
- Team Leader will be directed to their Project Dashboard. Whenever the Team Leader logs in using their Google account details at google science fair , they will arrive on this page where the Team Leader can enter and review his/her registration information, request parental or guardian consent, create, edit and submit the team’s final Project.
- Team Leader will be required to enter some information about themselves and the team’s Project in the Registration section before they can create a Project. Note: Registration may be edited during the submission phase up to the point the entry is “submitted”.
- Team Leader must click the box stating that they have read, accept, and agree to be bound by these Official Rules and terms.
- The Team Leader must add the other Team Member(s) to his/her Team after completing the registration process by entering the email addresses of the other team member(s).
- The other team member(s) will receive an email from Google with instructions on how they can register as part of the Team Leader’s team. They will be asked to create their own password and provide the same types of personal information as the Team Leader. Team Members must click the box stating that they have read, accept and agree to be bound by these Official Rules and terms.
- Once a Team Member has registered, they will be able to log in and see the Project Dashboard. They will see their personal information, and the same dashboard as their team members. Team Members can all log in separately to work on the “team” project, although the Team Leader will be required to submit the final project.
Request Parental/Guardian Consent
- You may begin working on your Project after you have registered, however, you will not be able to submit it for judging until all Team Members have requested and received parental consent or guardian.
- Each Team Member must log in to the Project Dashboard using their own log-in details and enter the email address of a parent or guardian in the space provided.
- Each Team Member’s parent or guardian will receive an email from Google with instructions on how they can give their consent for entrants participation. The Project will not be judged unless this consent is received.
- Parental or guardian consent is a requirement for all entrants, including each member of a team. Google must receive parental or guardian consent for you to participate before you are eligible to submit an entry. Parental or guardian consent is also required for you to use Google products and services in connection with and as part of participation with the Competition.
Creating Your Project
- Upon completion of registration you can begin working on your Project. The Project must follow the technical, creative, and legal entry requirements set out in these Official Rules and the Competition Site (which are incorporated herein by reference).
- You will be required to complete all sections of the Project Site.
- Your Project will be judged in one (1) of two (2) age groups (13-15 and 16-18) based on the age of the oldest team member on February 18, 2015. Entries will be judged based on their competition category as determined by the judges (see “Competition Breakdown” for list of the five categories).
TIPS: See upcoming competition events, dates & hangouts here.
For more information, visit Google Science Fair or visit FAQs.
