Competitions · Research and innovation · Google Science Fair
The Google Science Fair.
An online science competition run by Google with LEGO, CERN, National Geographic and Scientific American - and the most recent cycle anyone has published details for closed in 2019. Check it is running before you plan around it.
Read this first
The published cycle ended in 2019.
Everything below describes a real competition with real rules. What is not clear is whether it is currently open, and that has to be settled first.
Every date points to 2018-19
The material available describes a submission window running from September to December and a final judging round at Google’s Mountain View headquarters in July or August 2019. There is no later cycle described anywhere in it.
And no statement either way
The organisers’ material does not say the competition has ended. It also does not announce a new season. Both silences matter.
So confirm before committing a year
A science fair entry is months of work. Verify with the organiser that a cycle is open before beginning, rather than after.
And plan an alternative in parallel
ISEF, GENIUS Olympiad and the Yau Science Award all take the same kind of project and are demonstrably running. A project built for one can usually be entered in another.
For the record
What the competition was.
The Google Science Fair was first held in February 2011, run by Google with LEGO, CERN, National Geographic and Scientific American, to encourage innovation in science and engineering among teenagers and to have them experiment and present their findings.
- Organisers
- Google, with LEGO, CERN, National Geographic and Scientific American
- First held
- February 2011
- Who could enter
- Students aged 13 to 18, in two age groups - 13 to 15 and 16 to 18
- Team
- Individually or in teams of up to three. Team members could come from different schools, cities and countries, and the team was placed by its oldest member
- Regions
- Three - the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Africa and the Middle East
- Entries
- One project per person, whether entering alone, as team leader or as a member. Where more than one was submitted, only the first was judged
- Categories
- Two - experimental and engineering. Entrants chose one main topic and up to two sub-topics
- Consent
- A parent or legal guardian had to consent before a project could be submitted
- Judging criteria
- Eight - the student’s presentation, question, hypothesis, research, experiment, data, observations and conclusion
The submission
Eight sections, and a hard rule about the tools.
The structure is a good model for any science fair entry, and the tooling rule is the kind that disqualifies otherwise strong projects.
| Section | What it contained |
|---|---|
| 1. Overview | A summary of the project, optionally accompanied by one - and only one - of a two-minute video or a deck of up to twenty slides |
| 2. About you | An introduction to the entrant or the team |
| 3. Question or proposal | The problem investigated and the hypothesis, or the problem being solved and the expected result |
| 4. Research | The research done in the chosen category and how it shaped the project |
| 5. Method, testing and redesign | How the experiment was run or the solution tested, in detail |
| 6. Results | The data and observations collected, including any patterns or trends |
| 7. Conclusion | How the experiment answered the question - or why it did not - and whether the results were what was expected |
| 8. Bibliography | References, citations and acknowledgements |
The tooling rule was absolute: the optional video had to be on YouTube and the optional slides had to be Google Slides. Anything made elsewhere was disqualified and not viewed. A video over two minutes was judged on its first two; a deck over twenty slides on its first twenty.
A rule worth borrowing
It accepted three languages, and said so.
This is the most quietly remarkable thing in the rules and it is worth knowing about when comparing competitions.
Three languages accepted directly
The published rules named English, German and Italian as the languages the fair supported directly - a small list, but stated plainly rather than left for entrants to discover after translating an application.
And any other, with a translation
A project could be submitted in any language at all provided an English translation or script accompanied it for the English-speaking judges.
With an explicit assurance
The rules stated plainly that the language a project was submitted in had no effect on how the entrant or team was assessed.
Which is rare and worth asking about elsewhere
Most international science competitions on this site require English. When comparing them, whether language is a barrier or merely a medium is a fair question to put to an organiser.
The safety rules
Three categories of restriction, and they were strict.
These are worth reading whichever science fair you enter, because most run similar rules and most entrants discover them late.
Biological work
Data had to come from existing publicly available sources, and organisms had to be biosafety level 1 or lower. Hazardous chemicals were prohibited outright, and carcinogens of any class were forbidden.
Human subjects
Data from existing publicly available sources, behavioural observation conducted in unrestricted public settings, and any data received and recorded anonymously or with identities removed.
Animal subjects
Data from existing publicly available sources, or observational and behavioural work on animals in natural settings or in existing observational laboratories such as those at universities.
And disqualification at any time
Projects had to follow laboratory safety guidelines, and the organisers reserved the right to disqualify a project and its entrant at any point for failing to.
The awards
Four category awards, and the prizes were experiences.
The award structure is unusual enough to describe, because most of it was not money.
Grand prize: a USD 50,000 scholarship
Chosen from among the category award winners. The second-highest scorer in that category then took the category award instead.
National Geographic: an expedition
Three winners received a fifteen-day expedition to Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands.
Scientific American and Virgin Galactic
The Scientific American award sent a winner and a family member on a yacht trip discussing science with scientists, with a USD 15,000 scholarship. The Virgin Galactic Pioneer award took a winner and family member to the factory to meet engineers and see the spacecraft, also with USD 15,000.
LEGO Education: Denmark
For solving a difficult problem through innovative practice - a visit to LEGO headquarters in Denmark with a family member, to meet the designers and staff.
What to take from it
If you are building a science fair project now.
The competition may or may not be open, but the structure it published is a useful checklist for any of the fairs that are.
Write to eight sections
Question, research, method, results, conclusion, references - plus who you are and a summary. Almost every science fair wants the same skeleton.
And practise the two-minute overview
A two-minute video or twenty slides summarising a whole project is a discipline that transfers directly to ISEF, GENIUS and the Yau Award.
Settle the safety category early
Biological, human or animal subjects all carry restrictions at every fair. Establishing which apply before starting is what separates a project that can be entered from one that cannot.
Then enter something that is running
ISEF through an affiliated fair, GENIUS Olympiad directly, or the Yau Science Award through its regional structure. All three take work of this kind.
Talk to an advisor
Hanlin does not coach Google Science Fair. Ask what it does coach.
The services below are real, but not for this competition. An advisor will say plainly whether there is a route here and what is worth entering instead.
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The Google Science Fair, briefly answered.
What people ask when they find this competition.
Is the Google Science Fair still running?
The published material describes a cycle that closed in 2019 and does not announce a later one. It also does not say the competition has ended. Confirm the current status with the organiser before planning a project around it.
What should I enter instead?
ISEF, entered through an affiliated fair; the GENIUS Olympiad, which takes entries directly; or the Yau Science Award, which runs regional rounds including one for Asia. All three accept the same kind of project.
Who could enter?
Students aged 13 to 18, in two age groups, individually or in teams of up to three. Team members could be from different schools, cities and countries, and the team was placed by its oldest member.
What did a submission contain?
Eight sections: an overview, an introduction to the entrant, the question or proposal, the research, the method and testing, the results, the conclusion, and a bibliography. An optional two-minute video or twenty-slide deck could accompany the overview.
Was there a rule about which tools to use?
Yes, and it was absolute. The optional video had to be hosted on YouTube and the optional slides had to be Google Slides. Anything made with other tools was disqualified and not viewed.
What language could I submit in?
Fourteen were accepted directly, including Chinese in both simplified and traditional forms. Any other language was accepted with an English translation or script for the judges, and the rules stated that the language chosen had no effect on assessment.
What were the categories?
Experimental - behavioural and social science, biology, chemistry, environmental science, plants and animals, food science. And engineering - astrophysics, energy and space, physics, electricity and electronics, invention and innovation, robotics, computer science and mathematics.
What restrictions applied to the research?
Biological work required publicly available data and organisms at biosafety level 1 or lower, with hazardous chemicals and carcinogens prohibited. Human-subject work required public data, observation in unrestricted public settings, or anonymised data. Animal work required public data or observation in natural settings or existing observational laboratories.
What were the prizes?
A USD 50,000 scholarship for the grand prize winner, and category awards from National Geographic, Scientific American, LEGO Education and Virgin Galactic - largely expeditions and visits rather than cash, several with USD 15,000 scholarships attached.
Related
Competitions that are running.
Where a science fair project can go now.
Google Science Fair enquiries
Check it is open before you build the project.
The most recent cycle anyone has published details for closed in 2019, and no later season is announced. Tell us what the student wants to research and an advisor will confirm the current status and point the work at a fair that is definitely running.