To be eligible for an award, students must carry out a scientific investigation OR design and construct an invention, device, or ICT application, observing the following conditions:

1. Entry Deadline:  Projects in all categories need to be submitted before 11:59pm on the date listed on the key dates page. Projects received after this time will have their eligibility for a prize decided by the Young Scientist Appeals Committee. Details of the process can be found in the following documents: Young Scientist Appeals Process, Young Scientist Appeals Form 

2. Entry forms must be submitted by an adult who has oversight of the project and has the consent of the students and their parent/caregiver to share information with STANSW. The submitting adult is responsible for ensuring that the project satisfies the rules for entry.

3. The investigation or innovation submitted must have commenced after 1 September in the year before the competition. Students may reference data gathered prior to this date (by themselves or another student) in their project, but will only be judged on work carried out after 1 September. The logbook must document when the research was conducted and when experimentation or data collection began, and how any previous works influenced the current project.

4. Entries may be submitted by teams of students consisting of no more than three members. If teams comprise students from different age categories, the project needs to be entered according to the highest grade in the group.

5. Entries must be the student’s own work. It is the responsibility of the adult submitting the form to ensure that the project is the work of the identified student or team. References used for background research should be listed in a bibliography. Students may receive support, however, all support must be clearly described in an Acknowledgements list. See the section on academic integrity for further guidance.  

6. Unless by prior arrangement, schools and other hubs are restricted to submitting 10 projects per category. Schools are strongly encouraged to conduct their own preliminary judging and only send in projects that are appropriate for state-level judging. All participating schools are expected to contribute at least one judge to the judging team.

7. Students from other Australian states and territories can enter the STA NSW Young Scientist Awards and be in the running for any of the category or sponsored prizes. However, we strongly encourage students from outside NSW to enter their own state-based competitions and only enter STANSW Young Scientist if their state-based competition does not have categories that support their project. Students from outside NSW are not eligible to win any Grand Awards or represent STANSW in subsequent national or international competitions.

8. Students from other countries are welcome to enter the STANSW Young Scientist Awards and be in the running for a place in any of the category prizes. If they are selected for a prize they will receive a Certificate stating their category placement and their name will be listed on our annual list of prize winners. They are not eligible to win any cash awards, Grand Awards or represent STANSW in subsequent national or international competitions.

9. Some students may be invited to compete in national or international competitions at the discretion of the judges and the STANSW Council. Eligibility conditions may differ for other competitions, and meeting these requirements is ultimately the student’s responsibility.

10. All projects should be conducted safely and ethically. Risk management should be detailed in the logbook. For experiments involving human or vertebrate species, approval must be given by an ethics committee constituted at their school. 

• Projects involving animals must meet animal welfare guidelines for NSW.
• If a student’s experimentation or testing involves interaction with human subjects (e.g. measuring human activity, in-depth questionnaires, surveys), students must provide evidence of the written consent of each subject and their parents/guardians (if the subject is less than 18 years old). Care must be taken to ensure the anonymity of each subject in all submitted documentation. 
• Projects involving potentially hazardous biological agents, chemicals, activities or devices, must satisfy the requirements for chemical safety in schools (CSIS). Documentation should be included in the log book
• For projects involving restricted substances, firearms, heavy machinery or transportation, students must provide evidence of a permit to use such equipment or of supervision by an adult with a permit. Entries must be in line with State and Federal laws and regulations.
• If a student conducts any part of their experimentation at a laboratory outside the school, written approval must be obtained from that facility and documented in their entry. Details of ethics approvals associated with any data being used (including permission to share with students) should also be included. Identifying details are permitted for this purpose.

11. Members of the organising committee, judges and sponsors must not judge any project or participate in any decision relating to a matter where they have a conflict of interest. Sources of conflict can include: (i) A familial or other close personal relationship eg. living in the same household, child of a close friend (ii) A teacher/student relationship (including a student at the same school, but different class) (iii) A mentoring relationship (iv) A personal or business relationship with a sponsor (v) Previous exposure to the entry (eg. at a school or regional fair). 

12. The judges’ decision is final. Any inquiry relating to the judging of a project must be made in writing, and emailed to the Young Scientist Coordinator.

13. STANSW reserves the right to alter categories and the amounts or number of prizes awarded without notice. Prizes will not be awarded if insufficient eligible entries are received in a category. Entrants are strongly encouraged to enter in all relevant categories. STANSW reserves the right to move projects between categories where required. 

14. The student retains all intellectual property. Every effort will be made to protect the intellectual property of students, however, it is the students’ responsibility to ensure that submitting the project does not contradict any other intellectual property or non-disclosure requirements, including but not limited to those relating to patents, academic institutions, companies, or other competitions. STANSW will not be held responsible for any breaches to such restrictions. 

Privacy Policy
All information will be stored in alignment with STANSWs privacy policy, noting the following
-The consent of the student and their parents/caregivers is required before sharing projects. The adult submitting the form is responsible for ensuring this consent is received.
-Information shared with STANSW will be stored in online databases that may include third-party providers (eg MailChimp).