The GSSSF needs judges—we would love to have one judge for each participating student!  We have set the goal of at least 200 GSSSF judges and dozens more Special Award judges. Sound interesting? All the information you require is in these sections. Feel free to recruit friends, families, coworkers, and colleagues. Know someone who would be a great science fair judge? Send them this page!
If you have questions contact the GSSSF Director at gsssf@most.org or (315) 425-9068 ext. 2163.

*If the deadline passes you by, you can still be a Junior Level judge by registering in person during Junior Judge Check-In on fair day.

Judging at the Senior Level (grades 9-12) -back to top
Senior Level judges must possess a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in a science, engineering, technology, medicine, education, business, or legal field. You must be able to assess a student’s project on the basis of creativity, scientific/engineering knowledge, thoroughness, and clarity in a competitive environment. We group Senior Level projects by exhibit category, e.g. engineering, chemistry, plant sciences. Senior Level judging teams, organized by preferred judging category, conduct a first round of judging using predetermined criteria. Then, with an experienced coordinator, team captains conduct a second round of judging to choose students advancing to further competitions. If you are an experienced Senior Level judge, you may volunteer to be considered as a Team Captain.

Judging at the Junior Level (grades 5-8)
Junior Level judges must possess an interest in the sciences, technology, or innovation; must enjoy interacting with young people; and should be able to assess students’ efforts in a logical manner. We group Junior Level projects by grade. Junior Level judges are grouped into grade-specific pairs that evaluate an assigned set of projects and score each project against a predetermined set of criteria.

Judging Special Awards
Special Awards are given by local businesses and organizations as well as through the GSSSF’s affiliation with the Society for Science and the Public (formerly Science Service). Local businesses and organizations typically provide their own judges. However, additional Special Award judges are needed for the Senior Level awards from SSP.

Things to Know

• You must complete Judge Registration whether this is your first or tenth year.
• When applying to be a judge, you may be either a Special Awards judge or a GSSSF Awards judge but not both.
• We provide lunch and training.
• We will inform you by e-mail about 1 week in advance of the GSSSF to confirm your judging status.

Fair Day Information - back to top
Welcome and thank you for choosing to be a judge at the Greater Syracuse Scholastic Science Fair. You are going to have a great time seeing and hearing about the amazing work of these students. Roughly one week before the fair you will receive an e-mail with your judge assignment. The code “S” for Senior Level, “J” for Junior Level, and “SP” for Special Awards. Experienced senior level judges, who have been chosen to be team captains, have “TC” following the judge level code. You will receive your judge pairing at Check-In.

This year’s science fair is Sunday, March 28 at Solvay High School in Syracuse. Free parking is available at Solvay High School. The parking lot on the left side of the school has been reserved for judges. Lunch will be served for all judges and a concession stand will be on site to provide snacks and beverages. Because the GSSSF is completely funded by the community and we would like to concentrate most of our resources on the students, donations for lunch are appreciated to help us defray costs. Pens and clipboards will be provided this year.

We also would like this year’s judges to, if possible, stay at the fair for the keynote speaker, awards ceremony, and the celebration of achievement/public viewing. We have cut down the time for the awards ceremony and will provide refreshments for the celebration of achievement/public viewing to try to encourage this. We think it will be a very positive change for judges to be able to congratulate students they have judged during the last hour of the fair.

Objectives of the fair and the judging process 
• To encourage students to continue their pursuit of science, engineering and medicine.
• To provide students with a forum to showcase their science and engineering research.
• To encourage students to return to the science fair in upcoming years.

Judging Procedure 
Judges take note: the judging procedure and rubric have changed from previous years. The intent of these changes is to minimize the amount of time students need to be standing at attention at their projects as well as to reduce the subjectivity and relativity of the judging process. This will also eliminate the need for judges to deliberate their scoring in groups before officially choosing winners.

-Arrive Sunday morning at 10:30AM for check-in, judges will be paired up. Introduce yourself to your partner judge before starting the judging procedure.

-At check-in, judges will receive packets of information including a set of score sheets, an explanation of the rubric, a schedule, a short list of potential questions, a clip board, and a pen.

-In the hour between check-in and the lunch/training session, judges should visit and evaluate their assigned student projects. Each judge pair will have projects from only one grade level. Familiarize yourselves with the projects in your group and take note of any questions you have. Avoid comparing your students to those in other grade levels.

-Judges will be instructed on judging procedures during the lunch hour; judging officially begins at 1:00PM and ends at 2:20PM—which means efficiency is extremely important.

-Shake hands and identify yourself as a judge; allow the student to introduce him/herself, and then open judging with “tell me about your project.”

-As the student is explaining his or her project, follow the information on the exhibit. Judging needs to take into account both the displayed material and the student’s presentation.

-Choose the questions you ask wisely: the answers should help you judge specific areas on the rubric.

-You should ask to see an abstract, written paper, research logbook and bibliography if they are not posted.

-At the end of the interview, shake hands, congratulate the student on his/her work and say goodbye. Make sure to stay enthusiastic and encouraging with the student.

-Be discreet when marking your judge sheet while at the student’s project, or hold off altogether until you are walking away. Use the Judging Rubric to rate the students: this adds objectivity to the judging procedure.

Junior Level Judge Pairs and Award Determination
This year the GSSSF is changing the judging procedure to eliminate the need for a deliberation period. In the past teams of judges ranked student projects in relative terms and then met to discuss results. This year we are establishing a more objective rubric and absolute scoring system and will be using percentiles of the highest scores in each grade level to award medallions and top prizes.

We will also be judging all junior projects as pairs; each pair will spend no more than 15 minutes at each student’s project. While each judge should listen to all of the student’s answers at each project (answers to questions from both judges in the pair) s/he should make his/her own determination on scoring. The point in limiting judge discussion is to get 4 different views on each project—if one judge pair discusses all of their determinations there is a chance for one judge to consistently influence the other and undermine the system.

Senior Level Judging

We are not expecting to have a great number of senior level projects, therefore we will either have every judge rate every project and select the highest rated projects to be interviewed by team captains OR have two teams of judges rate all projects in their groups and have team captains interview the best projects. The second round team captain interviews will start as soon as the initial judging group decisions have been submitted. The top two winners will represent our region at the International Science and Engineering Fair this May in San Jose, California. It is very important that we select two students whose projects meet ALL of the criteria of the Judging Rubric as well as meet all of the rules and paperwork requirements of the ISEF Scientific Review Committee. The third through fifth place students will advance to the New York State Science Congress this June.

Judging "Do’s and Don'ts"
• Keep in mind that competing in a science fair is not only a competition but also an educational and motivating experience for the participants. The high point of the fair experience for most of the participants is the judging interviews. Be encouraging to all the participants.

• As a general rule, judges represent professional authority to finalists. For this reason, you should use an encouraging tone when asking questions, offering suggestions or giving constructive criticism. Do NOT criticize, treat lightly or display boredom toward projects you consider personally unimportant. THE PROJECT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO THE PARTICIPANT. Always give credit for completing a challenging task and/or for their success in previous competitions. Thank the participant for his or her hard work and accomplishment. 

• Please be discreet when discussing winners or making critical comments in non-evaluation areas (such as the exhibit halls, lobbies and stairways), as participants or adult escorts may overhear. Results are confidential until announced at the awards ceremony.

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Frequently Asked Questions

• What importance is the exhibit display?
The display is an important part of the student’s presentation. It should, on its own, convey a good degree of understanding about the scope of the project, the methods, the data, and conclusions. While the aesthetics of the display can be seen as the least-important part of the judging process, the scientific information presented there is just as important as what the student is saying. During the student’s oral presentation s/he should consistently refer to the display to assist in explaining his/her project to you.

• What is the importance of the Question and Answer period?
The Q & A will give you a feeling for how independent the student was and how well they understood the project, as well as how they might apply their findings.

• How much ownership should the students have for their work?
 Ideally, the student should have generated the project idea and be an active participant in all aspects of the project. The work and conclusions should be their own. However, in reality science is usually a somewhat cooperative effort, and assistance from parents and mentors is allowed (given that the student is the one coming up with the ideas and carrying out the experiment).

• What are the roles of mentors and parents?
 Ideally, mentors and parents are only assistants. If the student is working with dangerous items, adult supervision or participation may be required. Also, in some laboratory settings, the mentor is required to do the experiment. In both of these circumstances, the student should be present for the experiment and any work thereafter should be the responsibility of the student. Parents and mentors should not have done literature reviews, data manipulation, conclusions, or display work. The Q&A period is often a tool to gauge parent/mentor participation and make sure it was appropriate.

• What is original research to these age groups? 
Original research is either something that has never been done before or is a twist on an already established scientific or engineering principle. Original research is not required of a project, but projects exhibiting original research should be awarded some extra points in the creative ability and scientific thought/engineering principle scores. However, you are looking for actual experimentation being conducted. Demonstrating a scientific or engineering principle without any experimentation is not considered research.

• Why can’t every student win an award? 
The science fair is a competition, one that allows for advancement to other competitions (ISEF, Science Congress, Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge) and a variety of special awards. Each student does, however, receive a Certificate of Participation.