Orange County Science and Engineering Fair

2026 Project Application

Check your email often (including spam folder) for notifications from noreply@mail.smapply.net.

For more information, visit the OCSEF website.

Please pay close attention to the instructions in your application 

OCSEF Steps & Deadlines:

** Students must complete Registration and SRC Approval (either steps 1 & 2 or steps 3 & 4), depending on whether their project requires Pre-Approval. 

** All projects need Scientific Review Committee (SRC) Approval in order to move to the Project Submission step. 

Step 1: Early Pre-Approval Project Registration

• Monday November 3, 2025 (11:59pm PST) -- Early Pre-Approval Registration Deadline
• Students must receive SRC Approval BEFORE starting their project 
• Pre-approval required if your project includes:  human subjects, vertebrate animals, or potential hazards (biological agents, materials, equipment, chemicals, organisms, tissues, devices, activities, etc.)
• Check the Pre-Approval Flowchart to see if your project requires pre-approval.
• If your project doesn't need pre-approval, then skip to step 3.

Step 2: Pre-Approval SRC Review

Once registration is completed, your application will automatically be reviewed by our Scientific Review Committee (SRC). 

• Monday, November 17, 2025 -- SRC Early Approval Deadline
• After SRC approval, you can start your project and skip to step 5

Step 3: Regular Project Registration

• Wednesday February 4, 2026 (11:59pm PST) -- Regular Registration Deadline
• Only for projects with no pre-approval required

Step 4: Regular SRC Review

Once registration is completed, your application will automatically be reviewed by our Scientific Review Committee (SRC). 

• Friday, February 13, 2026 -- SRC Regular Approval Deadline
• Approval is required by SRC before your project moves to Step 5.

Step 5: Project Submission Deadline

This includes an abstract, slide deck, video, and lab notebook, along with any Regulated Research Forms. No exceptions to the deadline. 

• Monday February 23, 2026 (11:59pm PST)

Step 6: 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 7.

• Monday, March 2, 2026 -- Final Project Approval Deadline

Step 7: Virtual Judging

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

• Wednesday March 11, 2026

Step 8: Awards Ceremony

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

• Sunday March 22, 2026

Important:

• First, create a SurveyMonkey account using the student's information (name & email)
  • Do NOT use the parent's name
  • Do NOT use school email addresses when creating your account and in your project application. (Sign up for a free Gmail account if you have no other alternative)
    
• Second, create a project application. DO NOT CREATE DUPLICATE APPLICATIONS. Team Projects: Create one student account, then create only one project application.
• Students will receive email notifications from noreply@mail.smapply.net (check spam folder).
  • Add your parent/guardian as a Collaborator to your application so they also receive all email notifications.
  • Team Projects: Add other students on your team as Collaborators so they also receive all email notifications.
• Review ALL of the OCSEF Rules (ocsef.org) to be sure your project meets all requirements.
• Complete the corresponding Certification Form if your project includes: 1) human subjects, 2) vertebrate animals, 3) potential hazards, or 4) regulated research (see OCSEF website for details).
• Be sure to click "SUBMIT" once all tasks are completed to finalize the Project Registration and Project 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.