The following 22 categories and subcategories are those that will be used at ISEF 2026, Phoenix, Arizona.

ISEF Categories: Projects that aim to improve human health and longevity by translating novel discoveries in the biomedical sciences into effective activities and tools for clinical and public health use.

ISEF Category: The study or development of software, information processes or methodologies to demonstrate, analyze, or control a process/solution.

Studies in which the use of machine intelligence is paramount to reducing the reliance on human intervention.

ISEF Category: Physics is the science of matter and energy and of interactions between the two. Astronomy is the study of anything in the universe beyond the Earth.

ISEF Categories: Materials Science: The study of the integration of various materials forms in systems, devices, and components that rely on their unique and specific properties. It involves their synthesis and processing in the form of nanoparticles, nanofibers, and nanolayered structures, to coatings and laminates, to bulk monolithic, single-/poly-crystalline, glassy, soft/hard solid, composite, and cellular structures. It also involves measurements of various properties and characterization of the structure across length scales, in addition to multi-scale modeling and computations for process-structure and structure-property correlations.