Our Prestigious Science Competitions

Society for Science is a champion for science, dedicated to promoting the understanding and appreciation of science and the vital role it plays in human advancement. Established in 1921, Society for Science is best known for its award-winning journalism through Science News and Science News Explores, its world-class science research competitions for students, including the Regeneron Science Talent Search, the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair and the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, and its outreach and equity programming that seeks to ensure that all students have an opportunity to pursue a career in STEM.

Regeneron Science Talent Search

The Science Talent Search (STS), the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors, was launched by the Society and Westinghouse in 1942.

Then and today, the competition seeks to identify the nation’s next generation of scientific leaders. The 40 STS finalists receive scholarships and a trip to Washington D.C. where they have an opportunity to interact with one another in addition to meeting prominent scientists and politicians.

Westinghouse sponsored the competition for the first 55 years, followed by Intel from 1998-2016. STS is currently sponsored by Regeneron as part of a 10-year, $100 million commitment to the Society. Today, nearly 2,000 high school seniors apply to Regeneron STS annually, competing for more than $3 million in awards, including a top prize of $250,000.

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2012 STS Finalists Pose with President Obama at the White House
2012 STS Finalists Pose with President Obama at the White House Barack Obama Presidential Library
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Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair

For more than 70 years, thousands of students from our affiliated science fair network have explored their passion for scientific inquiry at the world’s largest global science competition for high schoolers, the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). Each year, students from more than 75 countries, regions and territories compete in ISEF across 21 different STEM disciplines.

Currently sponsored by Regeneron, ISEF awards nearly $8 million in prizes and scholarships to high school scientists each year, with a top prize of $75,000. Two films released in 2018, Inventing Tomorrow and Science Fair, documented several students’ pathways to ISEF and their experiences during the weeklong competition. Filmed at Regeneron ISEF 2022, National Geographic’s Science Fair: The Series follows several U.S. and international students as they navigate their way to ISEF. The docuseries is set to premiere in 2023.

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ISEF 2023 Grand Awards Ceremony - Dallas, Texas - Top Award Winners ISEF 2023 Grand Awards Ceremony - Dallas, Texas - Kaitlyn Wang (Grand Award Winner), Saathvik Kannan, Teepakorn Keawumdee, Pannathorn Siri, and, Poon Trakultangmun
The 2023 Regeneron ISEF Top 3 Grand Award winners. Society for Science
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Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge

Our premier middle school STEM competition for U.S. students in grades sixth through eighth, first launched in 1999 thanks to a partnership with Discovery Communications, Inc. as the Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge (DCYSC), which ran through 2007. In 2008, the Society continued the program as the Society Middle School Program, until Broadcom Foundation was named the title sponsor in 2010. The Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Sciences, Technology and Engineering for Rising Stars) continued through 2022, awarding more than $100,000 in scholarships and prizes each year. In 2022, Thermo Fisher Scientific was named the new title sponsor of our middle school competition.

The first Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge will take place in 2023.

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Learn more about how to support Thermo Fisher JIC
Top 30 Broadcom MASTERS Finalists at SERC Society for Science
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Find an ISEF or Junior Innovators Challenge Affiliated Science Fair

Science competitions in nearly every state in the U.S., as well as in more than 80 countries, regions and territories, are affiliated with the Society.

Society Affiliated Fairs