Old Dominion University hosts the 2024 Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair (VSSEF) held on April 13, 2022. VSSEF offers a number of special and category awards. Selected 9th-12th grade projects will advance to the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) competition which will be held on May 11-17, 2024 in Los Angeles, CA.
Approximately 1,800 high school students from more than 75 countries, regions, and territories are awarded the opportunity to showcase their independent research and compete for on average $4 million in prizes at ISEF.
Paramount to everything is ensuring that Virginia students have the opportunity to engage in scientific research and receive recognition for their outstanding efforts.
What to Expect at the Fair
Friday, April 12, 2024
Project Dropoff - Chartway Arena - 3:00-8:00 pm
Projects must be dropped off by 8:00pm to allow adequate time for safety and guideline inspections.
Saturday, April 13, 2024
Category Round - 8:00am-10:00am
Breakfast Break and Judge Deliberation - 10:00-11:00am
Continuation of Category Round - 11:00am-12:00pm
Lunch Break - 12:00-1:00pm
Project Pickup Opportunity - 12:30-1:00pm
Projects Notified of Grand Award Round - 1:00pm
Grand Award Round Judging - 1:00-2:00pm
Awards Ceremony - 3:00-4:00pm
- Judging set to begin at 8:00 am.
- VSSEF will not provide posterboard for you to hang up your posters. Participants should plan to provide their, own tri-fold posterboards.
- Interviews are planned to last approximately 5-10 minutes each.
- The majority of judging will take place during the morning. Judges will confer throughout the morning, and early afternoon, to decide category award winners.
- Those projects that are eligible for the Grand Award Prize will be notified at their project's location.
- In the afternoon session, judging for the Grand Award Prize will occur. To be considered for the Grand Award, you must stay with your project during the Grand Award Round as judges may request to speak with you and ask questions.
- There are multiple opportunities to pick up your project poster should you decide to leave the fair early. To be considered for the Grand Award, you and your project must stay at the fair.
- All project posters must be removed by 5:00pm.
Animal Sciences
· Animal Behavior
· Cellular Studies
· Development
· Ecology
· Genetics
· Nutrition and Growth
· Physiology
· Systematics and Evolution
Behavioral and Social Sciences
· Behavioral Neuroscience
· Development
· Cognitive Psychology
· Social Psychology
· Sociology and Anthropology
Biomed. Sciences, Biomed. Engineering & Translational Medicine
• Cell, Organ, and Systems Physiology
• Genetics and Molecular Biology of Disease
• Immunology
• Pathophysiology
• Biomechanics and Biomedical Devices
• Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine
• Biomedical Sensors and Imaging
• Disease Prevention, Detection and Diagnosis
• Disease Treatment and Therapies
• Drug Identification and Testing
• Pre-Clinical Studies
Cell, Molecular and Computational Biology & Biochemistry
· Cell Physiology
· Cellular Immunology
· Genetics & Genomics
· Computational Biomodeling, Epidemiology & Neuroscience
· Analytical, General, Medicinal & Structural Biochemistry
Chemistry
· Analytical Chemistry
· Computational Chemistry
· Environmental Chemistry
· Inorganic Chemistry
· Materials Chemistry
· Organic Chemistry
· Physical Chemistry
Earth and Environmental Sciences
· Atmospheric Science
· Climate Science
· Environmental Effects on Ecosystems
· Geosciences
· Water Science
Engineering Technology & Sustainable Design
· Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering
· Civil Engineering
· Naval Systems & Ground Vehicle Systems
· Mechanical Engineering & Industrial Engineering-Processing
· Biological Process and Design
· Energy Storage
· Solar Process, Materials, and Design
· Wind and Water Movement Power Generation
Materials Science
· Biomaterials
· Ceramic and Glasses
· Composite Materials
· Computation and Theory
· Electronic, Optical, and Magnetic Materials
· Nanomaterials
· Polymers
Microbiology
· Antimicrobial and Antibiotics
· Applied Microbiology
· Bacteriology
· Environmental Microbiology
· Microbial Genetics
· Virology
Physics, Math and Astronomy
· Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
· Condensed Matter and Materials
· Mechanics
· Nuclear and Particle Physics
· Theoretical, Computational, and Quantum Physics
· Algebra and Analysis
· Combinatorics, Graph Theory, and Game Theory
· Geometry and Topology
· Number Theory
· Probability and Statistics
· Astronomy and Cosmology
Plant Sciences
· Agriculture and Agronomy
· Ecology
· Genetics and Breeding
· Growth and Development
· Pathology
· Plant Physiology
· Systematics and Evolution
Robotics, Software & Embedded Systems
· Biomechanics
· Cognitive Systems
· Control Theory
· Machine Learning
· Algorithms
· Cybersecurity
· Databases
· Languages and Operating Systems
· Mobile Apps
· Internet of Things
· Networking and Data Communications
· Sensors and Signal Processing
Judge Criteria
Detailed information coming soon.