- Projects on any of the subject areas designated may be entered by any student enrolled in grades 5 through 12 in any public, private, parochial, or home school in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
- In order for a project to be admitted for exhibition, it must have won a 1st or 2nd place category award, been selected as one of 5 at-large projects from an affiliated regional fair, or received an Amazon Innovation Award. Winning 1st or 2nd place at the regional fair automatically advances the project to state fair.
- A contestant may participate in only one ISEF affiliated regional science fair in the same year. A student who will have reached age 20 on or before April 1 of the year of the fair is not eligible.
- A contestant may enter only ONE exhibit.
- All work on exhibits must be done by the individual or group. Any exhibits, which indicate the direct assistance of the teacher, or any other outside help (such as parental) will be disqualified by the judges. Teachers or sponsors may advise, but must not construct any part of the exhibit.
- Exhibits must be confined to a table or floor space of 76 cm front to back by 122 cm side to side, or smaller. Projects must be less than 274 cm high, floor to top.
- Exhibitors must provide their own display surfaces as only table space will be provided. Therefore, support should be prepared for all materials that are to stand erect.
- Record Books outlining the purpose of the project, procedure used, source of data and information, summary and conclusions, etc., must be kept and made available for observation and examination by the judges for all exhibits. Emphasis should be placed on the project report. The report should be free of spelling and grammatical errors. Remember, you must be present at the specified time during the judging of the exhibits, and your exhibit and record book must be available to the judges during the judging process.
- Construction of exhibits must be durable, and movable parts firmly attached for safety precaution. An electrical outlet will NOT be provided at State. Be sure laptop, if used, is fully charged before arriving at the Fair.
- No live animals (vertebrate or invertebrate), preserved vertebrate animals or parts, including embryos, may be exhibited. Research involving the use of animals may display drawings, charts, or graphs to illustrate the conditions, developments, and results of the investigations. Photographs of surgical techniques depicting vertebrate animals in other than normal conditions may not be displayed on the student’s exhibit but may be contained in an accompanying notebook. Any entry form for a project involving vertebrate animals, human subjects, recombinant DNA, or tissues must be accompanied by copies of all completed certification forms required by “ISEF Rules for Research” to be eligible for exhibiting space. All participants should obtain a copy of the “ISEF Rules for Research” in order to make sure their projects fall within the rules and guidelines set forth by ISEF. A copy of these rules are available at https://student.societyforscience.org/international-rules-pre-college-science-research.
- Anything which could be hazardous to public display is prohibited. This includes live pathogens, microbial cultures, fungi, any flame or flammable material, any chemicals including water. Use drawings, charts, or graphs to illustrate conditions. What you did and what you found out are much more important than the materials used.
- The exhibitor’s school affiliation must not be visible until judging is complete.
- Applications and required forms for exhibit entries must be entered in STEM Wizard, or–in approved circumstances–received by the fair director via email, no later than deadline established on home page. This will be strictly enforced. Individual projects’ fee is $15, and team projects’ fee is $15 per team member even if a team member will not be attending state fair. Entry fees are not refundable.
- No Fair Participant will be permitted to change category, division, or project from that at which they competed at their regional fair.
- All exhibits must be placed in and removed from the exhibit hall at the time specified by the state fair committee.
- First, second, and third, etc., awards will not necessarily be given in each category. First and second place awards will not necessarily be judged for Best of Fair. Awards will be given according to minimum standards to be determined by the judges. The decision of the judges is final.
- Neither the KY-SEF Governing Board, the cooperating groups, nor sponsors assume any responsibility for loss or damage to any exhibit or part thereof.