Intel Science Talent Search Rules

 

 Complete Rules and Entry Instructions 2013 PDF

Eligibility Requirements

 

1. a. Any student who is enrolled in and attending his or her last year of secondary school (public, private, or parochial) in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, The Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Wake and Midway Islands, or the Marianas; or
   b. Any United States citizen enrolled in his or her senior or 12th grade year of secondary school attending:
   

   i. a Department of Defense Dependents School or an accredited overseas American or International School; or
   ii. a foreign school as an exchange student; or
   iii. a foreign school because his/her parent(s) are temporarily working and living abroad.

   Proof of citizenship is required.
2. Entrants must be completing high school courses required for college applications and must not have entered any previous STS.
3. Sons and daughters of Society for Science & the Public employees, Trustees, Intel Science Talent Search evaluators or judges are not eligible to enter the Intel Science Talent Search.
4. Only one entry per student.

Entry Rules

1. Each student must attest to the following statement before submitting an application:

   I certify that all the information provided is correct to the best of my knowledge and I certify that the Research Report I am submitting is my own individual work, not that of a student team, nor does it represent the work of others. I agree to accept the decision of the judges as final and understand that my application and Research Report will not be returned to me but shall become the sole property of Intel STS/SSP. I also agree to permit Intel STS/SSP to use all information contained in my application in any way it deems appropriate for publicity purposes. I certify that I have read and fully understood all rules and eligibility requirements found in the Intel STS Rules & Official Entry Form and that I have complied with all rules and meet the eligibility for submitting this Intel STS entry. I further understand that scientific fraud, misconduct or violation of the rules and/or eligibility requirements may result in disqualification and forfeiture of any awards and that SSP reserves the right in such cases to bar future participation in SSP programs.

2. There is no time limit on the duration of research.
3. Research conducted as part of a student team project is not eligible for Intel STS. This includes any research or portion of research regardless of whether it has or will be submitted to any competition. Even if the student was a primary member of a team or conducted one portion of the research, it must still be considered a part of that team project, and is not eligible for Intel STS. Students may not “split” a team project and enter it in Intel STS as individuals.
4. The practice of mentor/adult compensation based on a student’s results in the Intel STS is prohibited. Any such compensation will render the student entry ineligible for consideration and will be grounds for the revocation of any award already made.
5. The Research Report, including text, and all appendices, tables/charts, etc., may not exceed 20 pages total. Title page, abstract, and bibliography pages do not count in the 20-page limit. Any pages provided that exceed 20 will not be read or considered. Students should select a report format/style that is appropriate for their discipline.
6. Each entry must include the following:
   
   A. Online Application: with “submitted” status, including a complete Research Report and IRB/IACUC approval where required.
   
   B.Teacher/Advisor Recommendation(s): completed online by the person with the most knowledge of the scientific potential of the student.
   
   C.Project Recommendation: completed online by the person closest to the student’s research. For projects with a supervising scientist, that scientist must complete this recommendation.
   
   D.High School Report: completed online by a counselor or administrator.
   
   E.An official school transcript, mailed to SSP, received before the Application Deadline.
   
   
7. No projects involving live non-human vertebrate animal experimentation will be eligible.
   Live vertebrates are defined as any live, non-human vertebrate, mammalian embryo or fetus, bird or reptile eggs within three days (72 hours) of hatching, and all other vertebrates at hatching or birth.
   Excluded from the above rule are:
   
   a. Projects involving animals in their natural environment that are non-invasive and non-intrusive studies (e.g., observational, behavioral) that do not affect an animal’s health or well-being by causing stress, discomfort or pain, and in which the student’s contact with the animal(s) is restricted to supervised handling and husbandry procedures that meet Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) (www.aalas.org; www.aphis.usda.gov) standards at registered research institutions, and which conform to federal regulations protecting animal well-being and researcher safety.
   
   OR
   
   b. Projects being conducted in a registered institution or laboratory where animal experimentation is taking place and in which the student will only have physical contact with the animal(s) under the handling and husbandry conditions stated above; and
   

   i. the student works with non-living material (e.g., tissue, blood) that has been supplied to them by the supervising scientist; and
   ii. the animal(s) involved is/are not sacrificed, solely for the student’s project.
   iii. the project the student designs and implements begins with non-living material. (No procedures, invasive or otherwise, were conducted on live vertebrate animals for the student-designed project); and
   iv. the student was not involved in the collection of data, directly or indirectly (through media or video), using invasive or intrusive experimentation that causes more than momentary pain or distress to the vertebrate animal(s).

8. Projects involving HUMAN SUBJECTS, including surveys, must adhere to the following rules:
   Based upon the Code of Federal Regulations (45 CFR 46), the definition of a human subject is a living individual about whom an investigator conducting research obtains (1) data or samples through intervention or interaction with individual(s), or (2) identifiable private information.
   
   a. Student researchers must write a research plan that should include a description of research subjects, recruitment procedures, research methodology, assessment of risks and benefits of the research, procedures for minimizing physical, psychological and privacy risks to subjects and procedures for obtaining informed consent. See the SSP Risk Assessment Guide at www.societyforscience.org/sts/riskassess.
   
   b. The research plan must be reviewed and approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) before the student may begin recruiting and/or interacting with human subjects. After initial IRB approval, a student with any proposed changes to the research plan must repeat the approval process before experimentation/data collection resumes.
   

   i. If research is conducted in a high school, it is the responsibility of the student researcher to receive properly documented IRB approval before beginning the study (see IRB guidelines below.)
   ii. If research is conducted at a federally regulated research institution (e.g., university, medical center, NIH, correctional institution, etc.), the research plan must be reviewed and approved by that institution’s IRB and proper documentation must be provided.

   
   c. The research study must be in compliance with all privacy and HIPAA laws when they apply to the project. Students are prohibited from administering medications and performing invasive medical procedures on human subjects. The IRB must confirm that the student is not violating the Medical Practice Act of the particular state or territory in which he/she is conducting the research.
   
   d. Research subjects must voluntarily give informed consent/assent, and in cases where the research subject is a minor, parental permission may be required. The IRB determines whether written documentation of consent/assent/permission is necessary.
   
   e. Student researchers may NOT publish or display information in a report that identifies the human subjects directly or through identifiers linked to the subjects (including photographs), without written consent (Public Health Service Act, 42, USC 241 (d)).
   
   f. All standardized tests that are not in the public domain must be administered, scored and interpreted by a qualified professional as required by the instrument publisher. Any and all use and distribution of the test must be in accordance with the publisher’s requirements including procurement of legal copies of the instrument.
   
   g. Some studies involving human data are not considered human studies projects and are exempt from IRB review and approval. These include:
   

   i. Data/record review studies in which the data are taken from preexisting, publicly available data.
   ii. Behavioral observations of unrestricted, public settings in which a) the researcher has no interaction with the individuals being observed and b) the researcher does not manipulate the environment and c) the researcher does not record any personally identifiable data.
   iii. Research in which the student receives data in a de-identified/anonymous format. The professional providing the data must certify, in writing, that the data have been appropriately de-identified in compliance with all privacy and HIPAA laws.

9. Projects involving only the following types of tissue do not require documentation of pre-review by an IRB or IACUC:
   
   a. Projects using established cell and tissue cultures (e.g., obtained from the American Type Culture Collection). The source and/or catalog number of the cultures must be identified under the exception explanation question.
   
   b. Hair.
   
   c. Teeth that have been sterilized to kill any blood borne pathogen that may be present. Chemical disinfection or autoclaving at 121 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes is a recommended procedure.
   
   d. Fossilized tissue or archeological specimens.
   
   e. Prepared fixed tissue.
   
   f. Meat, meat by-products, pasteurized milk or eggs obtained from food stores, restaurants, or packing houses.

INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD

An Institutional Review Board (IRB) is an independent committee that, according to federal regulations (45-CFR-46), evaluates the potential physical and/or psychological risk of research involving human subjects. All proposed human research must be reviewed and approved by an IRB before experimentation begins. This includes any surveys or questionnaires to be used.

School-level IRBs must consist of a minimum of three members. A school-level IRB must include: (1) a science teacher not involved with project(s) being reviewed, (2) a school administrator (preferably a principal or vice principal) and (3) one of the following who is knowledgeable and capable of evaluating the physical and/or psychological risk involved in a given study: a physician, psychiatrist, physician’s assistant, registered nurse, psychologist, or licensed social worker who is not involved with the project being reviewed. No member of an IRB may be personally related to the student researcher.

Teachers and advisors who oversee a specific project must not serve on the IRB reviewing that project. An improperly-constituted IRB invalidates the approval of a project. IRBs must secure additional alternate members to ensure the eligibility of the projects being reviewed.

IRBs exist at federally registered institutions (e.g., universities, medical centers, NIH, correctional facilities). The IRB must initially review and approve all proposed research conducted at, or sponsored by, that institution.

RISK ASSESSMENT

Once a study population is chosen, the student researcher must assess any potential physical and/or psychological risks. In evaluating risk, students and IRBs must follow the federal definition of minimal risk:
No more than minimal risk exists when the probability and magnitude of harm or discomfort anticipated in the research are not greater (in and of themselves) than those ordinarily encountered in DAILY LIFE or during performance of routine physical or psychological examinations or tests.

The following risk groups require additional safeguards because they may be vulnerable to coercion or undue influence:

1. Any member of a group that is naturally at-risk (e.g., pregnant women, individuals with diseases
   such as cancer, asthma, diabetes, cardiac disorders, psychiatric disorders, dyslexia, AIDS, etc.).
2. Special vulnerable groups that are covered by federal regulations (e.g. children/minors, prisoners, pregnant women, mentally disabled persons, or economically or educationally disadvantaged persons).

The following are examples of activities that contain more than minimal risk:

1. Physical
   
   a. Exercise other than ordinarily encountered in DAILY LIFE by that subject.
   
   b. Ingestion of any substance or exposure to any potentially hazardous materials.
2. Psychological
   
   a. Any activity (e.g. survey, questionnaire, viewing of stimuli) or experimental condition that could potentially result in emotional stress. For example, answering questions related to personal experiences such as sexual, physical or child abuse, divorce and/or psychological well-being (e.g. depression, anxiety, suicide) is considered more than minimal risk. Additionally, research activities that involve exposing subjects to stimuli or experimental conditions that could potentially result in emotional stress must also be considered more than minimal risk. Examples include violent or distressing video images, distressing written materials or activities that could potentially result in feelings of depression, anxiety, or low self-esteem in subjects.
   
   b. Any activity that could potentially result in negative consequences for the subject due to invasion of privacy or breech of confidentiality. When research activities involve collection of personal information (e.g. history of abuse, drug use, opinions, fingerprints) or health-related data (genetic material, blood, tissue) the researcher must consider risks related to invasion of privacy and possible breech of confidentiality. Ways to reduce these risks include collecting data anonymously or developing data collection procedures that make it impossible to link any identifying information (e.g. subject’s name) with his/her responses or data.

INFORMED CONSENT

Informed consent provides information to the subject about the risks and benefits associated with participation in the research study and allows the subject to make an independent, educated decision about whether or not to participate. Informed consent is an ongoing process, not a single event that ends with a signature on a page. It must not involve coercion or deception.

Documentation of informed consent is required:

1. When the IRB determines that a research study involves physical or psychological activities with more than minimal risk;
2. When the IRB determines that the project could potentially result in emotional stress to a research subject;
3. When the IRB determines that the research subjects belong to a risk group.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Additional resources are available regarding human subjects research guidelines.

• The recommended online training prior to planning any human subject study, for students, new high school IRBs, and new IRB members is at:
  http:/ohsr.od.nih.gov
• A Risk Assessment Guide for IRBs is at: www.societyforscience.org/sts/riskassess
• The Office for Human Research Protections details national guidelines from which Intel STS rules are derived are at: hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/basics.htm
• Bioethics resources are at: http://bioethics.od.nih.gov/.

Academic Integrity

The Intel Science Talent Search, like colleges and universities across the nation, expects that students hold themselves to rigorous ethical standards, both academic and personal. Responsibility for integrity in scholarship is inherently the scholar’s, including the student scholar.

Students must be responsible for all aspects of their work’s authenticity: the research, the application, and all other documentation. The required signature box asks the entrant to attest to every statement, and by their signature, claim each one to be true or understood. It also attests that material submitted is exclusively the work of the applicant in substance and in presentation. Note that it additionally attests that no mentor of an Intel STS applicant may be compensated based on an applicant’s performance in the Intel STS. The responsibility and privilege to present independent work in conformity with Intel STS rules rests with the student, with the guidance of faculty and adult advisors.
If a determination is made at any point that an entrant has violated rules and/or misrepresented work or attribution thereof, SSP reserves the right to disqualify the entry, withhold and/or withdraw monetary awards and/or exclude the entrant from participating in SSP programs.

Intellectual Property

Independent research for the Intel STS may produce findings that are the Intellectual Property (IP) of the entrant. Participation in the Intel STS requires disclosure of methods and results; they will be made available to the public. If entrants are concerned about the protection of IP, they are urged to consider these issues with their supervising scientist and qualified adult advisors to make an informed decision before entering the Intel STS. The exhibition, posting, and judging process will not be modified in deference to journal embargoes or other considerations.

Conditions of Awards

All awards less than $20,000 will be paid in the year that the prize is awarded, if the student has provided the necessary documentation to process payment. Prizes not disbursed within two years of the award date will be subject to forfeiture.

For individual awards greater than or equal to $20,000, annual payments will be made. The awardee must be an undergraduate or graduate student in good standing to receive payment. Payments must begin no later than 6 years after the award is made and must conclude within 8 years of matriculation from high school. Initial payments will commence once the student has provided the necessary documentation to provide payment. Awards not disbursed within the dates noted above will be subject to forfeiture.

SSP may approve, at its discretion, the extension of the payment schedules noted above if the student provides a request in writing detailing his or her individual circumstances. SSP reserves the right to deny any such request.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations require that SSP file IRS Form 1099 for Miscellaneous Income for recipients of award monies which total $600 or more during a calendar year. Award recipients will receive their copy of Form 1099 from SSP in January of the year following the year award payments are made.