1. All student participants must complete the following forms before any research begins: Checklist for Adult Sponsor (1), Student Checklist (1A), Research Plan Attachment, and Approval Form (1B), from the ISEF Rules Book. If there are any questions, check the instructions in the ISEF Rules Book on our web page.

2. Exhibits on any scientific subject may be entered if they are made by students enrolled in grades 6-12 in a public, private or parochial school in a 15 county area around eastern South Dakota.* Students must be less than 21 years of age on or before May 1, 2009.

3. Contestants may enter only one exhibit, either as an individual or in a group of no more than three. All work on exhibits must be done by the individual or by the group. Teachers or sponsors may advise, but must not build any part of the exhibit. An exhibit must not be an identical reptition of one shown by the same exhibitor or some other group at a previous year.

4. Exhibits must be confined to a table or floor space of 30 in. front to back by 48 in. side to side, and a maximum height of 108 in. (ISEF tables will not exceed a height of 36 in.). Students must provide their own back supports for the exhibit.

5. A typed abstract of the project, not exceeding 250 words, and a project notebook must be displayed.  Do not need to use the Official Abstract form.

6. Judges will evaluate exhibits between 9:00 a.m. and 2 p.m. Scoring will be based upon work done by the exhibitors; not on the value of their equipment. ISEF criteria for judging will be used as outlined in the ISEF Rule Book. Judges may interview some or all exhibitors. The decision of the judges will be final.

7. Research involving vertebrate animal, human subjects and recombinant DNA must meet regulations specified in the ISEF Rules Book. ISEF forms are to be filled out and submitted to the local or ESDSEF Scientific Review Committee (SRC) before the project begins. Deadline for the ESDSEF SRC review is February 6, 2009.

8. ESDSEF Application Form, all ISEF forms and the abstract are due by March 13, 2009, or by March 18, if the ESDSEF application is submitted online.
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All projects will be reviewed by the ESDSEF SRC committee prior to the competition to ensure conformance with the ISEF Rules. These regulations are to help insure that the research is conducted in a safe and humane manner. Through proper animal care, handling, and research procedures, the research results will more accurately reflect the effects being studied and will not be infuenced by other factors.


*The region includes the counties of Deuel, Hamlin, Brookings, Kingsbury, Beadle, Lake, Moody, Minnehaha, Turner, Lincoln, Yankton, Clay, Codington, and Union in South Dakota; also Sioux County in Iowa.  Also covers Grant-Deuel High School in Grant County, SD.