Ethics Statement  - applicable to ALL TYPES of projects.

ALL student researchers, as well as adults who have a role in their projects, are expected to maintain the highest ethical standards. These include, but are not limited to:

Student researchers are expected to maintain the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Scientific fraud and misconduct are not condoned at any level of research or competition.

Such practices include but are not limited to plagiarism, forgery, use or presentation of other researcher’s work as one’s own, and fabrication of data.

Fraudulent projects will fail to qualify for the competition and if it is learned after the competition any awards will be removed and the student(s) will be listed as Disqualified (DQ) and denied participation at ACSEF for the next fair cycle.

• Integrity. Honesty, objectivity, and avoidance of conflicts of interest are expected during every research phase. The project should reflect independent research done by the student(s), and represent only one year’s work.
• Legality. Compliance with all federal, state and local laws and regulations is essential. In addition, projects conducted outside the U.S. must also adhere to the laws of the country and jurisdiction in which the project was performed. All projects must be    Top

approved by a Scientific Review Committee (SRC), and when necessary must also be approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB), Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), and/or Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) as related to the type of research.

• Respect for Confidentiality and Intellectual Property. Confidential communications, as well as patents, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual property must be honored. Unpublished data, methods, or results may not be used without permission, and credit must be given to all contributions to research.
• Stewardship of the Environment. It is the responsibility of the researcher and the adults involved to protect the environment from harm. Introduction or disposal of non-native, genetically altered, and/or invasive species, (e.g. insects, plants, invertebrates, vertebrates), pathogens, toxic chemicals, or foreign substances into the environment is prohibited. It is recommended that students reference their local, state, or national laws and regulations and quarantine lists, including if considering using “catch and release” fishing procedures.
• Animal Care. Proper care and respect must be given to vertebrate animals. The guiding principles for the use of animals in research include the following “Four R’s”: Replace, Reduce, Refine, and Respect.
• Human Participant Protection. The highest priority is the health and well-being of the student researcher(s) and human participants.
• Potentially Hazardous Biological Agents (PHBAs). It is the responsibility of the students and adults involved in the project to conduct and document a risk assessment and to safely handle and dispose of organisms and materials.
• Scientific fraud and misconduct are not condoned at any level of research or competition. This includes plagiarism, forgery, use or presentation of other researcher’s work as one’s own, and fabrication of data. Fraudulent projects will fail to qualify for competition in ACSEF and Regeneron ISEF, CSEF, or the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge middle school competition. ACSEF & the Society for Science and the Public reserves the right to revoke recognition of a project subsequently found to have been fraudulent or otherwise does not comply with the ethical standards.

AI use and information (from Regeneron ISEF/Society for Science)  

This statement clarifies the expectation that students will not have used an AI tool to provide information in materials such as in directly providing text for writing that they are indicating is their own, but that otherwise, they cite the use of AI as they would other sources of materials used in the ideation and implementation of their project. 

A sample statement, “I certify that I have not used AI tools, like ChatGPT, to construct the research plan or responses to questions in the forms or finalist questionnaire.”

Sample citation:

APA Style - https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt 

OpenAI. (Year). ChatGPT (Month Day version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com (hyperlink to chat transcript with hyperlink unlinked (no active links are allowed on ISEF forms or Research Plans)). 

• Integrity. Honesty, objectivity, and avoidance of conflicts of interest are expected during every research phase. The project should reflect independent research done by the student(s), and represent only one year’s work.
• Legality. Compliance with all federal, state and local laws and regulations is essential. In addition, projects conducted outside the U.S. must also adhere to the laws of the country and jurisdiction in which the project was performed. All projects must be    Top

approved by a Scientific Review Committee (SRC), and when necessary must also be approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB), Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), and/or Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) as related to the type of research.

• Respect for Confidentiality and Intellectual Property. Confidential communications, as well as patents, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual property must be honored. Unpublished data, methods, or results may not be used without permission, and credit must be given to all contributions to research.
• Stewardship of the Environment. It is the responsibility of the researcher and the adults involved to protect the environment from harm. Introduction or disposal of non-native, genetically altered, and/or invasive species, (e.g. insects, plants, invertebrates, vertebrates), pathogens, toxic chemicals, or foreign substances into the environment is prohibited. It is recommended that students reference their local, state, or national laws and regulations and quarantine lists, including if considering using “catch and release” fishing procedures.
• Animal Care. Proper care and respect must be given to vertebrate animals. The guiding principles for the use of animals in research include the following “Four R’s”: Replace, Reduce, Refine, and Respect.
• Human Participant Protection. The highest priority is the health and well-being of the student researcher(s) and human participants.
• Potentially Hazardous Biological Agents (PHBAs). It is the responsibility of the students and adults involved in the project to conduct and document a risk assessment and to safely handle and dispose of organisms and materials.
• Scientific fraud and misconduct are not condoned at any level of research or competition. This includes plagiarism, forgery, use or presentation of other researcher’s work as one’s own, and fabrication of data. Fraudulent projects will fail to qualify for competition in ACSEF and Regeneron ISEF, CSEF, or the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge middle school competition. ACSEF & the Society for Science and the Public reserves the right to revoke recognition of a project subsequently found to have been fraudulent or otherwise does not comply with the ethical standards.

Link to all 2025 Rules and Policy Changes 

General Eligibility: Students in grades 6-12 attending schools located in Alameda County are eligible. 

• Students may enter ACSEF independently on their own if their school does NOT hold a science fair. In fact, few Alameda County schools hold science fairs.
• However: If the school DOES hold a science fair the student must be selected to enter ACSEF through their school selection process. 
• If the school district DOES hold a science fair for students but the school does not - the students may enter ACSEF independently on their own without entering the district science fair.

Additional eligibility criteria can be found on the ACSEF website https://acsef.org 

 DID YOU KNOW?

• ACSEF is a nonprofit 501(C)(3) public charity that runs entirely with a volunteer organizing board and on donations and grants?     
• If you appreciate the opportunities and guidance ACSEF offers students of Alameda County & you want to see ACSEF continue year after year, please consider becoming a Patron.
• You can support ACSEF with a donation via PayPal at the link shown below and write it off on your taxes.  
• Alternately make a check payable to ACSEF and mail to: 

Become A Patron of ACSEF 

ACSEF is affiliated with the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, the Thermo Fisher Junior Innovators Challenge, and the California Science and Engineering Fair. 

Our mission is to support the next generation of scientists and engineers.

The Fair provides an opportunity for local Alameda County students to showcase their science and engineering savvy at a regional, statewide, national, and international level. ACSEF provides a forum for stimulating student interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (S.T.E.M.) and an avenue for educators to fulfill the Common Core Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. Grade 6-12 students educated within Alameda County from home school, charter, public, private and parochial schools are eligible to participate in the fair held annually in March.

The origin of ACSEF was a vision supported by Intel and founding director Patti Carothers to create an International Science Fair (ISEF) affiliated fair in Alameda County. Alameda County, at the time, was one of the largest counties in California without an ISEF-affiliated science fair. 

After Ms. Carothers 2010 retirement teaching high school steps were taken starting in 2011 to form a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit public charity organization for funding the fair and then to create a county-wide event supported by Intel and later by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as the title sponsor. In 2023 ACSEF is seeking a new Title Sponsor. Companies can reach out to the 

ACSEF launched its first science fair in 2012 at Chabot College after a year of planning, obtaining supporting sponsors, and forming an organizing board. ACSEF fully supports STEM education, the Next Generation of Science Standards, and has helped to improve science in the classrooms through its school outreach Science Fair 101 workshops available to teachers and students from all parts of Alameda County and the Title 1 school participation incentive programs. 

We are steadily growing in participation! In our inaugural year, 2012 close to 250 students from county school districts participated. Not only has the number of participants grown between 500-700 annually and so has the quality of projects.

ACSEF encourages middle and high school students who attend a school or is homeschooled in the cities & towns of Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Castro Valley, Dublin, Emeryville, Fremont, Hayward, Livermore, Newark, Niles, Oakland, Piedmont, Pleasanton, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, Sunol, and Union City to participate in the ANNUAL ACSEF.  We hope to return to our new fair home at Chabot College, Hayward, CA in 2022.

The ACSEF founding director Patti Carothers, and the energetic and dedicated Organizing Board members including the Scientific Review Committee, is available throughout the summer and school year to offer advice and guidance to students and teachers as they begin to think about projects topics and research.

ACSEF organizing board is proud to be a part of this broader-reaching county-wide science fair. We are excited to bring the opportunity for middle and high school students and teachers in the county to become involved in science and engineering research projects.

We welcome the opportunity of partnership with agencies within the county to encourage increased hands-on science for underserved students.

ACSEF is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization - Tax ID # 45-1800245. We welcome and require your support to continue providing this opportunity to the students from Alameda County. We welcome your interest and participation as a volunteer, judge, or sponsor to HELP us keep offering this county-wide science, engineering, and technology event year after year.

Locate our Become a Patron to easily donate through PayPal use this Donate button or you can mail a check made out to ACSEF. Print your F/L name (and mailing address if not printed on the check) in the memo line and mail it to  Lou Groner, ACSEF Treasurer 2622 York St., WEST LINN, OREGON 97068. We will provide a tax-deductible receipt along with our thank you note!

Any amount $25 and higher is tax deductable and applies toward our IRS requirement that 1/3 of our funding is coming from broad public support required to maintain our nonprofit status. What does this mean? It means that we will continue offering the science fair as long as we have nonprofit status. If that is removed the fair will shut down.

Please check this link to find out other ways you can help.

Questions send email to the fair director at directoracsef@gmail.com. You may also phone our voice mail at 925-353-4414 to leave a message following the instructions given in the voice mail.

Fair Schedule

Questions send email to fair director at directoracsef@gmail.com. You may also phone our voice mail 925-353-4414  leave a message following the instructions given in the voice mail.

Judging Criteria: Updated September 21, 2024

Each category is 20% of final score, rated on a 1-10 scale.

Engineering Projects Rubric

Science Projects Rubric