TUESDAY, May 12, 2009
Registration, Welcome and Pre-judging

Special Awards Judges may register beginning at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday in the registration area in the main lobby of the Reno Sparks Convention Center (RSCC). They will receive nametags and other pertinent information including the Finalists' Directory which lists the finalist, project title and location in the Exhibit Hall. Nametags serve as official identification and are necessary for access to the judging areas. Immediately following registration, each judge has access to the Judges' Discussion Area, located in Exhibit Halls 1A and 1B, and to the finalists' projects in Exhibit Hall 2 starting at Noon on Tuesday - all at the Reno Sparks Convention Center.

Special Awards judges utilize the Tuesday period to caucus, preview the fair, make final selections of projects to be included in their reviews, and/or make final assignments of projects to their judges.

The Judges' Discussion Areas will be located in Exhibit Halls 1A and 1B at the Reno Sparks Convention Center. Each Special Awards organization will be assigned specific areas designated by signage, pipe, and drape. Judges will have access to the Discussion Area and exhibit floor until 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. There will be an information booth for all judges in the Discussion Area where maps will be available to help judges locate their tables in the Discussion Area and finalists' projects on the exhibit floor.

Judges' welcome and orientation takes place from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in Hall 4 of the Reno Sparks Convention Center. This session includes a thorough look at the judging process followed by a question and answer period. In addition it provides an opportunity for:

• a welcome to judges,
• a final review of the judging process and necessary details,
• the circulation of any necessary announcements and information, and
• finally, answering any other questions before the judging process is initiated.

As a special treat for all judges there will be a panel discussion with several Nobel Laureates and Draper Prize recipients on Tuesday afternoon between 4:30 P.M. and 5:30 p.m. Topics of this discussion will cover a wide range of subjects including the award recipients themselves, their scientific/engineering achievements and any other subject of interest that may be posed. It is hoped that this discussion will serve as a catalyst for the discussions the judges will have on Wednesday with the finalists.

Survey of Finalists' Projects (No Finalists present)

Judges may preview the finalists' projects beginning at 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday to determine the overall quality in all categories, not just their assigned categories. Because of the limited time period, judges should allot time for each category.

Special Awards judges should use this time to select those finalists' projects eligible for their organizations' awards. If possible, Special Awards judges should check ALL finalists' projects because a category does not always clearly indicate the type of project. Example: A project involving an organism's reaction to high acceleration might be found in Medicine & Health Sciences or Earth & Planetary Science.

A Finalist Directory listing the finalist, project title, and booth location is available to all judges to help in locating projects of interest. These directories will be included in the packet given to them at Registration as well as being available in the Judges' Discussion Area.

WEDNESDAY, May 13, 2009

Wednesday begins at 7:00 a.m. with a continental breakfast for all judges in the Judges Discussion Area, Exhibit Halls 1A and 1B at the Reno Sparks Convention Center.

Judging Assignments

Grand Awards Judges - Typically, eight to fourteen interviews are scheduled beginning at 9:30 a.m. and ending at 3:15 p.m. Each interview period is 15 minutes. Judges should take this time to evaluate each finalist's project carefully. An important part of the ISEF educational experience is discussion of the project; judges should budget the 15 minutes accordingly to ensure the finalist's project is covered as completely as possible. An audible tone will sound 12 minutes into each interview period informing the judges of the time left for that interview. An announcement will be made at the end of each interview period. Judges should score projects immediately after completion of the interview. Judges should not complete scoring evaluations in the presence of finalists.

Special Awards Judges - The sponsoring organization, through its designated judging leader, is responsible for establishing final assignments of their judges. The Intel ISEF Finalists' Directory serves as the initial source of topics, titles, and location of projects. To help Special Awards judges efficiently schedule their interview sessions, Society for Science & the Public will print a Finalists' schedule grid which will show the open periods when the finalists do not have a Grand Awards judging interview. Copies of these grids will be posted in the Exhibit halls and in the Judge's Discussion Area.

Judging Record Folder

On Tuesday afternoon, a Judging Record Folder will be placed in the working areas of each Grand Awards category and Special Awards judging group. This book will contain a reporting sheet to provide final certification of judging results for all awards. The Grand Awards Category Co-chair or Special Awards Leader of each judging group is responsible for the folder. Final Certification of results is not official until the Co-chair or Leader has:

1. Returned the Judging Record Folder and its certification sheet to the Society for Science & the Public Judging Control Center in Hall 1A in the Reno Sparks Convention Center;
   
   
2. Reviewed computer generated documents to confirm proper inclusion of each award winner; and
   
   
3. Signed and returned the printed documentation provided under item (2) with any previously distributed statistical data to the Judging Control Center. For Special Awards groups, the final awards certification sheet is also used to identify the person who will attend the actual awards session on behalf of the sponsor.

ALL RECORD FOLDERS, WITH FINAL AWARDS DOCUMENTATION AND ANY Society for Science & the Public PRODUCED STATISTICAL INFORMATION ON PROJECTS, MUST BE RECEIVED AT THE CONTROL CENTER BEFORE THE CATEGORY CO-CHAIR OR SPECIAL AWARDS LEADER LEAVES THE JUDGING AREA.

This includes all final awards documentation, any Society for Science & the Public produced statistical information, and all other judges' materials.

Summary Schedule for Special Awards Judges