SCIENCE FAIR INFORMATION

  May   2001

Dear Science Fair Coordinator:

The 2002 Northeastern Indiana Regional Science and Engineering Fair will be held on Saturday, March 23, 2002 in the Gates Sports Center on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.  I am writing at this early date to inform you of several SIGNIFICANT changes in the procedure governing participation in the 2002 Fair.  I hope that this "early warning" will both aid your long-range planning and avoid serious difficulties in the future.

Over a period of years, the Scientific Review Committee of the International Science and Engineering Fair has diligently worked to organize and clarify the rules governing participation in the International Fair.  The primary thrust of this effort has been to guarantee that all student participants understand and appreciate the qualities which characterize optimal scientific procedures.  Science and engineering do not operate in a vacuum; they are part of a larger constellation of discipline-specific and societal norms.  It is critical that students are made aware of these guidelines and learn to appreciate their importance.  These norms CANNOT be ignored; to do so imperils the very integrity of the scientific enterprise.

To insure that the norms and guidelines of the International Scientific Review Committee are carefully followed, the following procedures are being instituted by the Northeastern Indiana Regional Science and Engineering Fair:

1.                            ALL projects from grades 6-12 must submit an outline of the proposed project to the Scientific Review Committee at IPFW PRIOR TO THE BEGINNING OF ALL EXPERIMENTATION.  This outline must specify experimental methods, scope of the project, and safety procedures for both the experimenter and subjects or other proximate individuals.  ALL requirements outlined in the International Rule Book must be met.

2.                            After the submitted outline has been approved by the IPFW Scientific Review Committee, an Official Regional Fair Eligibility form will be returned to the student(s).  This form indicates that experimentation may NOW BEGIN and that the project is eligible to participate in the Northeastern Indiana Regional Science and Engineering Fair.  WITHOUT THIS FORM, A PROJECT WILL NOT BE PERMITTED TO PARTICIPATE.

3.                            ALL projects from grades 6-12 selected at their local fair to participate in the Northeastern Indiana Regional Science and Engineering Fair MUST submit a registration form NO LATER THAN 5:00 P.M., FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 2002.  NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE TO THIS DEADLINE. 

4.                             Each registration form MUST be accompanied by the Official Regional Fair Eligibility form.  If the Regional Fair Eligibility form is missing, the project MAY NOT PARTICIPATE.

5.                            After a project from grades 6-12 has been  registered, it will be reviewed again by the IPFW Scientific Review Committee.  ANY MODIFICATIONS OR DELETIONS FROM THE OUTLINE, METHODS, OR PROCEDURES SUBSEQUENT TO THE INITIAL APPROVAL WILL DISQUALIFY THE PROJECT FROM PARTICIPATION in the Northeastern Indiana Regional Science and Engineering Fair.

It is my hope that these procedures will encourage the highest possible scientific integrity for all our student participants at both the local and regional levels.  I realize that they will place additional constraints on student activities and on the scheduling of local school fairs.  However, it is absolutely imperative that all our students learn and appreciate the highest standards of the scientific and engineering disciplines.  To ask anything less is to do our children a terrible disservice.

Finally, I wish to take this opportunity to introduce to you Dr. Lesa Vartanian from the Department of Psychological Sciences at IPFW.  Dr. Vartanian will be Director of the 2002 Northeastern Indiana Regional Science and Engineering Fair.  If you have any concerns or need any additional information, please do not hesitate to call her at 219-481-5786 or email her at VartaniL@ipfw.edu.  You may also consult our Science Fair WebPage on the Internet: http://www.ipfw.edu/scifair

I wish you great success with next year's projects.

                                                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                                    Ronald J. Duchovic, Director

2001 Northeastern Indiana Regional Science and Engineering Fair