Safe Project Conditions
The Academy of Science of St. Louis encourages an attitude of curiosity and exploration in the Science Fair. To maintain this focus, all science fair participants (and supporting caregivers) must follow all STL Science Fair (“Fair”) safety procedures while conducting all parts of their project.
When you complete your registration in the MySciFair platform, you will be assigned the approval form. For a project to be eligible for competition in the 2027 STL Science Fair, there MUST be a completed Approval Form for the project in MySciFair.
The PDFs available below are for reference only; all forms must be submitted virtually.
A printable PDF of the Approval Form is below. This form is for ALL Junior and Senior Regional Division projects. This PDF is for reference only; this form must be signed in MySciFair to be eligible for competition.
A printable PDF of the Approval Form is below. This document is two-sided: one for MAKER Elementary Division Projects and one for SCIENCE Elementary Division Projects. Please only complete ONE side. This PDF is for reference only; this form must be signed in MySciFair to be eligible for competition.
Please note, these are the ONLY acceptable Approval Forms for the 2027 STL Science Fair.
Regional Division Rules and Regulations
If there is a question about the eligibility of a project that none of the text below addresses, please contact the STL Science Fair team at sciencefair@academyofsciencestl.org. Questions about the eligibility of Fair projects must be received by Feb 1 of the Fair year.
Each project should be supervised by a teacher or caregiver. The supervising adult should use their best judgment to ensure the safety of the student and any subjects (human or other animals). Caregivers and teachers assume responsibility for the safety of the student and any test subjects involved in the project.
For additional information regarding the boundaries of supervising projects, please refer to the STL Science Fair Policy on Caregiver Involvement.
- Projects that cause potential physical or emotional harm to humans are not permitted.
- All human participants should have a signed consent document. An informed consent template is available here for your use.
- If human data is collected, all personally identifiable information must be redacted on the poster and in any display materials.
- Use of human fluids in projects is permitted; however, safety considerations must be explicitly stated.
- Human fluids are not permitted to be displayed on the Fair floor.
Please refer to the STL Science Fair Policy on Generative AI Usage.
AI use is acceptable as long as it follows the Fair policy linked above. All AI use must be named in the Works Cited/Sources section of the project.
Display boards can be a maximum 36” x 48” inch tri-fold board that can stand on its own. A title header board is acceptable but not required.
Display board/Posters at the STL Science Fair must be free of any self-promotion, product placement, political views and affiliations, and religious views (ie., Biblical Connections, Religious Justification). Display board/ posters displaying these elements may be removed from the Fair or have parts redacted prior to judging.
There should be no identifying information on the display board/poster. This includes: Student Name(s), School, External Partners (ie. Science Coach, YSP, etc), Teacher Name, School District, any personally identifiable data from the participants, any pictures including the faces of minors. Posters displaying these elements may be removed from the Fair or have parts redacted prior to judging.
All projects will have a sequence number in the MySciFair platform 7-10 days before the Fair start date. The sequence number must be written in the bottom right-hand corner of the poster. Please double-check this number before drop-off. If the Sequence Number is illegible, the project may be judged incorrectly.
CHANGE in 2027: Materials may accompany the tri-fold board display; however, they must adhere to the Rules and Regulations, including fitting within a 12x24x12in space on the table in front of the poster.
CHANGE IN 2027: Do not attach the approval forms to the trifold poster. All paperwork will be signed virtually within the MySciFair Platform.
Projects in the Regional Division are judged for Ribbons and Special Awards Tuesday-Thursday based on the category they have been registered in. In the Regional Division, projects are judged based on the materials that are displayed; students are not present during judging in the Regional Division.
Ribbons and Special Awards will be announced Thursday after 7P on stlsciencefair.org.
Virtual projects are able to request a ribbon within two weeks of the conclusion of the Fair. Ribbons should be picked up at the Academy of Science St. Louis offices.
All Special Awards will be distributed at the Awards Ceremony on Saturday. If you are unable to attend the Awards Ceremony, your award packet will be sent to your school. It is strongly recommended that you have a MOST 529 account set up prior to receiving an award; all scholarship dollars are given in the form of a MOST 529 check.
Students will receive feedback that is intended to give constructive suggestions for students to continue forward in their scientific endeavors, if it is provided by the judges.
Projects must be picked up from the Fair on Friday or Saturday during public hours. Project boards not picked up will be taken to the Academy of Science St. Louis Offices; unfortunately, any display materials in addition to the trifold boards will be disposed of once the fair is over. Project boards not claimed within seven days after the Fair concludes will be disposed of.
Projects must have been completed within the period of time between the end of the 2026 STL Science Fair and the registration deadline for the 2027 STL Science Fair.
- Projects using superbugs and antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria are not permitted at the Fair.
- Mold and bacteria samples must be double-bagged and sealed with tape to be admissible on the Fair floor. Samples that do not follow these guidelines will be disposed of by Fair staff.
- Projects that cause potential physical or emotional harm to animals are not permitted.
- Use of animals is permitted; however, proper research should be done to ensure the safety of the organism in accordance with standard lab practices.
- No vertebrate organisms may be euthanized for the purpose of a project.
- Use of animal tissues that have been exposed to a viral or bacterial outbreak are not permitted in the regional division.
- Animal tissue samples of any kind are not permitted on the Fair floor.
- Projects that involve a level of risk above and beyond what is encountered in student’s everyday life are defined as hazardous.
- Hazardous chemicals are NOT permitted on the Fair floor.
- Hazardous chemicals must have storage and disposal procedures explicitly stated.
FIREARMS
- Projects using firearms are NEVER permitted. This includes antique, curio, or relic firearms, blackjack, concealable firearms, detonators, explosive weapons, firearms, gas guns, machine guns, projectile weapons, rifles, short barrel, shotguns, and spring guns. (RSMo Section 571.010)
- Any project using firearms will be disqualified from the STL Science Fair.
EXPLOSIONS
- Projects are NOT permitted to explore explosions or detonations. (NFPA 549, Explosive Materials Code)
- Projects exploring deflagrations are permitted in a controlled, safe, supervised environment.
- All deflagration projects must have safety measures explicitly stated.
DRUGS and ALCOHOL
- Projects are NOT permitted to use any DEA scheduled drugs in data collection.
- Projects are NOT permitted to use any alcoholic beverages in data collection.
- Projects are only allowed to use non-scheduled drugs if they are NOT ingested by any humans or animals.
- Projects may use 70-90% isopropyl alcohol or denatured ethanol as a cleaning agent. For using isopropyl alcohol or denatured alcohol as a material please contact, sciencefair@academyofsciencestl.org.