Nokia Bell Labs North Jersey Regional Science Fair
March 10 - 11, 2017
College Avenue Gymnasium
Rutgers University, New Brunswick

The Nokia Bell Labs NJRSF for 2017 was held at Rutgers New Brunswick March 10-11. The top awards, the ISEF trips, went to students from three schools: Bergen County Academy, Somerset County Vocational High School, and Watchung Hills Regional High School. Four additional schools were represented in the group of finalists who presented their work in the final round of the competition Saturday afternoon: Millburn High School, Montgomery High School, Pascack Hills High School, and Woodbridge High School. For the full list of over 200 awards, please see the NJRSF 2017 Press Release.

Projects Registered for 2017

This will only show projects that are already approved by the SRC.

Project Abstracts 2017

The abstract submission deadline is March 3, 2017. Once your abstract is submitted and accepted, it will show up on this list.

Fair Schedule

Directions to the College Avenue Gym

Location of Exhibit Area (map)

Student Information

Go to the Student Information page for project display requirements, abstract preparation, and instructions for setting up at the Fair.

Team Projects in 2017

Changes for 2017

• The pre-screening that was implemented in 2015 is planned to continue for this year. Hence, students should note the following:
  • The pre-screening is a first judging phase for the fair. Therefore, any project that is entered (and approved) at the entry deadline is assumed to be officially entered in the fair, and the documents posted on the web will reflect that entry. This practice may be of importance to students who wish to mention their NJRSF participation on college applications. What the screening does is to select the projects that will actually be exhibited at the fair in March.
  • The screening will start shortly after the entry deadline in early Feb. It will be based on the research plan and abstract submissions.
  • Any project for which a readable research plan is not present will be excluded from the screening (and hence from the exhibition).
  • Any project not approved (at least for NJRSF-only) by the SRC will likewise be excluded. It is important to get your paperwork submitted early. Do not wait for the deadline!
  • The abstract is not required, but it is a good idea to have it there, since it tells us what what you actually did, not what was planned.
  • The screening results will be posted on your entry status page when they are released.
• THERE IS AN EXTRA REQUIREMENT FOR VERTEBRATE PROJECTS. This was announced to the advisors in 2015, but we are making it part of our formal rules this year. In addition to the usual ISEF requirements (form 2 etc), and local SRC approval (if your school has a local SRC), we will require that the NJRSF SRC also approve the work prior to the start of experimentation. If you are doing a project that involves vertebrate subjects, please make sure you adhere to this new rule.

• We are transitioning to restricting team projects to two students. In 2018 we will accept only 2-student teams, but for 2017 we will accept 3-person teams, with the restriction that such projects will not be eligible for the ISEF trip awards.
• Due to ethical problems which occurred in 2016, personnel from the Pioneer Researcy Academy for Young Scientists (PRAFYS) will not be accepted as sponsors, mentors, or supervisors in 2017 or later years.
• We are making some changes in display and research plan requirements to clarify the relationship between a student's current work and work that may have been performed in a prior year or by the student's mentor:
  • The research plan should make a clear division, with headings, to separate the material that is new work by the student(s) from that that was performed in a prior year or by others when a student works as part of a research group.
  • On the display, work that was done by others (e.g. the mentor) should be in a clearly labeled background section of the poster.
  • Also, any work that was done in a prior year should be presented in a separate section, clearly labeled as prior work.
  • if data presented graphically on the poster was obtained by others, the citation should be clearly indicated by a label (not a footnote) that is separate from the caption.
• The entry fee required is now viewed as a submission fee, and we do not plan to make refunds, since the processing of a project entails use considerable use of committee resources, whether the project is approved and exhibited or not. Accordingly we expect the entry fee to be paid prior to SRC review.
• There is now a new final deadline for clearance of SRC approval issues (see below). This deadline is two weeks after the entry deadline. Forms must be submitted initially by the deadline, but if problems are flagged by the SRC, you will have a total of two weeks to clear the issues.

Important Dates:

• Dec. 1, 2016 -- Precertification of all projects that fall under ISEF pre-certification rules.
• Feb 5, 2017 -- Entry deadline. All students involved in individual or team projects must have their projects registered on the website by this date, and all ISEF forms (except form 1C) submitted. The submission of ISEF forms is performed entirely on-line this year. See the links on the top page of this site for details. You should note that the deadline for ISEF form submission is earlier (Dec 1, above) for any project that involves hazardous equipment or materials, vertebrate animals, human subjects, biological microorganisms of any kind, or recombinant DNA. Once you have completed the project registration, you should find content in your Entry Status screen (see Student dropdown menu), which will detail the remaining steps, including advisor certification, category certification, form submission, and payment of nonrefundable submission fees. Note that we want all students to sign up in 2017 for an SSP ID on the website of the Society for Science and the Public (the organization that runs ISEF). (Note: if you already have an SSP ID you do not need to sign up again--just use the same one.)
• Due to the prescreening step in the judging, which will commence shortly after the entry deadline, it is very important that all projects have a submitted research plan prior to the entry deadline.
• Feb 19, 2017 -- Final SRC clearance date. Any issues with your submitted ISEF forms must be cleared by this date.
• Feb 27, 2017 -- If applicable to your project, Form 1C must be submitted by this date, if you are unable to submit it with your other forms due in early Feb or on Dec. 1. Note that the Form 1C is not required for pre-certification.
• Mar. 3, 2017 -- Abstract deadline. Your abstract must be submitted by this date. The abstracts are to be submitted electronically. (Note you must be logged in on the website in order for this process to work properly.) Please note that you are to submit the *text* of your abstract in the online form.. No other format is accepted. You should try to submit at least a preliminary abstract by the entry deadline (above) so that that information can be used in the pre-screening phase, but you can revise abstracts until the day of the fair. Abstracts are manually reviewed before they are posted on the site, so be sure you make allowance for that delay.
• March 10-11, 2017 -- NJRSF-2017, Rutgers University College Avenue Gym (New Brunswick) and Student Center.