There are three phases to the Siemens Competition:
Initial Phase
Applications are due to Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ by 5 p.m. Eastern Time October 1, 2008.
Students may enter as individuals or as part of a team. Entries are "blind read" by a panel of judges assembled by The College Board and its partner Educational Testing Service. The judges have related expertise to the project being reviewed. They do not know anything about the student; papers are judged solely on the merits of the abstract and supporting documentation.
From this initial review up to 300 projects are selected as semi-finalists.
Click here for the 2008-09 Siemens Competition
Application Instructions and to Register on line!
Second Phase - Regional Finals
Up to thirty individual students and thirty teams (of 2 or 3 students) are chosen to compete at six regional competitions hosted by our partner universities MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, UT Austin and California Insitute of Technology.
As "Regional Finalists", students present to a panel of judges from the host university. They are expected to display a poster presentation of their project and give a twelve minute oral presentation, followed by an intensive Q&A. Individuals are compared to individuals, teams to teams.
Students who win their regional competition receive a silver medal and scholarships of $3,000 (team members receive $6,000 to be divided equally between team members) and go on to compete at the national event in New York City. Each runner-up receives a bronze medal and a $1,000 scholarship. Winners' names are posted on the Siemens Foundation website the Monday following the regional event.
Each high school that has a regional finalist will receive a $2000 award (per project) to be used to support science, mathematics and technology programs in their schools. In the event a finalist is home schooled, the award will be given to the school district or the high school associated with the home schooling.
2008-09 Competition Schedule
November 7th and 8th, 2008
Region Three: University of Notre Dame
Region One: California Institute of Technology
November 14th and 15th, 2008
Region Two: University of Texas at Austin
Region Four: Carnegie Mellon University
November 20th and 21st, 2008
Region Six: Georgia Institute of Technology
Region Five: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Third Phase - National Finals
December 4th - December 8th, 2008
New York City
At the national finals students compete against all the winners of the regional events, a total of six individuals and six teams. They experience the same rigorous judging procedures as the regional events by a panel of professional scientists. As national finalists, students receive a gold medal.
The National Recognition Gala Dinner will be held in New York City on Sunday, December 7th, 2008. Competition winners will be announced at a press conference, Monday, December 8th, 2008.
The top individual and top team each receive $100,000 scholarships. Runners up receive scholarships ranging from $10,000 to $50,000.
A key component of the Siemens Competition experience are the regional events that take place during November, hosted by six prestigious universities across the U.S. with which the Siemens Foundation has partnered. The universities provide the site, facilities and judges for the regional events as well as host the dinners and schedule the guest speakers.
Click here for more information and links to our university partners:
