Orange County Science and Engineering Fair

2025 Project Application System

Refer to the OCSEF website (www.ocsef.org) for complete Schedule, Rules, and Project Categories. Be sure to check your email often (including spam folder) for notifications from noreply@mail.smapply.net.

Please pay close attention to the instructions in your application 

OCSEF Schedule & Multi-Step Process:

Step 1: Project Registration

Required for ALL projects! No exceptions to the deadline.

• Closes Monday February 3, 2025 (11:59pm PST)

Note: Projects that use vertebrate animals, human subjects, and/or hazards (chemicals, organisms, tissues, equipment, tools, devices & dangerous materials) will need to be reviewed BEFORE the student starts the project and approved by the Scientific Review Committee (SRC). These students are encouraged to complete their project registration as soon as possible.

Step 2: SRC Review

Once registration is completed, your application will automatically be reviewed by our Scientific Review Committee (SRC). Approval is required by SRC before your project is allowed to move to Step 3.

Step 3: Project Submission

This includes a slide deck, video, and lab notebook, along with any Regulated Research or Continuation Project forms. No exceptions to the deadline. Only allowed for students who have completed Project Registration on or before the February 3, 2025 deadline.

• Closes Monday February 24, 2025 (11:59pm PST)

Step 4: Project Review

Once submission is complete, your application will automatically be reviewed again by OCSEF. Final approval by OCSEF is required before your project is allowed to participate in Step 5.

Step 5: Judging

Projects are judged for Board Category Awards by a judging panel and occur on Zoom. Students will be assigned an interview time.

• Wednesday March 12, 2025

Step 6: Awards Ceremony

All participants with judged projects are invited to our in-person awards ceremony at Chapman University. **Subject to change**

• Sunday March 23, 2025

Important:

• DO NOT CREATE DUPLICATE APPLICATIONS. Team Projects: Create one student account and register only one project application.
• Create a SurveyMonkey account using the student's information (name & email) - NOT the parent's name. 
• Only use personal email addresses (NO SCHOOL email addresses) when creating your account and in your project application. We will not be able to contact you if you use a school email address. (Sign up for a free Gmail account if you have no other alternative.)
• Students will receive email notifications from noreply@mail.smapply.net (check spam folder). If parents want to also receive email notifications, the student should add their parent as a Collaborator to their project application.
• Before you start your project, review the OCSEF Rules (ocsef.org/ocsef-rules/) to be sure your project meets all requirements.
• If your project involves vertebrate animals, human subjects, hazardous or dangerous materials/equipment/tools, or hazardous chemicals/biologicals then you will need to complete the corresponding Certification Form.
• If your project is conducted in a college, university, or industrial lab, then you will also need to complete the required Certification Form.
• The Scientific Review Committee (SRC) will review your project description to make sure it follows OCSEF rules and CA education code and to be sure the project is safe for all involved (people, animals, etc.) before approving your application. If more information is needed, the SRC will send a notification email from the Survey Monkey system.
• Please be sure to click "SUBMIT" once all tasks are completed to finalize the registration and submission stages. If you do not click Submit, then your project will NOT be registered and will not move to the next stage. The same applies for project submission.
• Please DO NOT email info@ocsef.org asking for exceptions for your project. To keep the competition fair, OCSEF follows the same rules for all our student applicants.
• OCSEF does not have an appeal process. All judges' decisions are final.