Northeast Indiana Regional Science and Engineering Fair

For Senior Division Projects
(Grades 9-12) Last Updated 2/25/2026

ISEF Paperwork

It is important that your pursuit of science be safe for all involved. For this reason, there are guidelines for students to follow at each level.

Only Senior Division (grades 9-12) students are required to complete the full ISEF paperwork. The 2026 Rules and Guidelines are available from the ISEF web site.

The following forms are required for ALL Senior Division projects and must be uploaded to the sefi.org web site by the registration deadline (February 14, 2025):

Checklist for Adult Sponsor (1)

Student Checklist (1A)

Approval Form (1B) by EACH student in a team

Senior Division projects that involve human subjects (including anything you are testing on yourself), vertebrate animals, or potentially hazardous chemicals, activities, devices, or biological agents are required to apply for an SRC/IRB Pre-Experimentation Review BEFORE research can begin. Use the ISEF Rules Wizard to determine what forms and approvals are necessary.

School Level IRB

Your school may set up its own IRB to review your project, rather than submitting it to the regional fair for review. Ask your teacher to contact the Fair director for more details.

If your project requires an SRC/IRB Pre-experimentation Review, read the ISEF International Rules and Guidelines 2026, complete the above ISEF forms (1, 1A, 1B), and the forms from the categories below that pertain to your project. Upload these to the SEFI.org web site before beginning your experimentation. You should hear back within a week of submission. If for some reason you do not, email both the Fair director scifair@pfw.edu and the NEIRSEF SRC/IRB Chair Amy Perkins.

Human Participants

Vertebrate Animals

Vertebrate Animal Form (5A) 5B may apply
Qualified Scientist Form (2) may apply

Potentially Hazardous Biological Agents
Use of microorganisms (including bacteria, viruses, viroids, prions, rickettsia, fungi, and parasites), recombinant DNA (rDNA) technologies or human or animal fresh/frozen tissues, blood, or body fluids.

Qualified Scientist Form (2) may apply
Risk Assessment Form (3)
Potentially Hazardous Biological Agents Form (6A) when applicable
Human and Vertebrate Animal Tissue Form (6B) when applicable

Hazardous Chemicals, Activities, or Devices
DEA-controlled substances, prescription drugs, alcohol & tobacco, firearms and explosives, radiation, lasers, drones, etc.

Risk Assessment Form (3)
Qualified Scientist Form (2) may apply

Writing Your Research Plan for Prereview

Guidelines for writing up your research plan are found on the second page of the Student Checklist (1A). You may type this up as a separate document and include it along with the Student Checklist (1A) or you can type this up the SEFI.org web site. Login using your student account. Complete the Research Question, Hypothesis, Experimental Method, and Bibliography sections. (You will not complete the Abstract until after you have completed the experiment).

Students tend to have difficulty writing a strong hypothesis. We ask that you write your hypothesis in an "If/Then" form, which suggests cause. Since in science we can only disprove (provide evidence that something is NOT so), hypotheses are written as null hypotheses with the ultimate goal of rejecting them.

If you are new to the idea of rejecting a null hypothesis, the following references may be of help to you:

What Is a Scientific Hypothesis? | Definition of Hypothesis https://www.livescience.com/21490-what-is-a-scientific-hypothesis-definition-of-hypothesis.html
Null Hypothesis – Simple Introduction
https://www.spss-tutorials.com/null-hypothesis/
Null Hypothesis Definition and Examples, How to State
https://www.statisticshowto.datasciencecentral.com/probability-and-statistics/null-hypothesis/
Khan Academy - AP Statistics Significance tests (Hypothesis testing)
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/ap-statistics/tests-significance-ap

Display Rules

The NEIRSEF display rules must be followed by all exhibitors at the regional fair, regardless of the rules used at the student's local fair. Fair personnel will inspect all exhibits for compliance with these rules and any non-conforming items must be removed from the display. For a full description of official display rules, review the ISEF Display and Safety Regulations.

NEIRSEF - Celebrating 71 years in 2026