CONSEF Students&Teachers

What is the CONSEF Poster Session?

The CONSEF Poster Session is a science and engineering project exhibition where students present their individual research or design projects in poster format. During the session, students explain their project purpose, research process, findings, and conclusions to judges. Projects are evaluated according to established scientific and design criteria.

Please read the CONSEF Policy and Procedure Manual

The following guidelines must be followed during the student application process:

Eligibility

CONSEF is open to students in grades 5–12 in the United States.

Project Categories and Divisions

CONSEF offers 14 different project categories. Students compete in two divisions:

Junior Division: Grades 5–8
Senior Division: Grades 9–12

During the application process, students select their preferred working methodology. Projects may be submitted under one of the following formats:

Experimental Projects
Experimental projects follow the scientific method. Students begin with a research question or hypothesis, conduct controlled experiments, collect and analyze data, and draw conclusions based on their findings.

Design Projects
Design projects focus on creating or developing a new device, system, procedure, computer program, or algorithm. These projects emphasize problem-solving, innovation, testing, evaluation, and improvement of the designed solution.

Students are evaluated according to the judging rubrics for their selected project type.

Registration Fee

The registration fee for the CONSEF Project Session is $160($200 with a late fee) per school, per division. This fee covers 1–45 projects.

Online Registration

All registrations are completed online through reg.consef.org.
To register, please follow the step-by-step instructions provided on the registration page.

Pre-Selection Process

All submitted projects go through a pre-selection process based on the criteria listed on the Preselection Criteria page. Selected projects will be announced one month before the event. Please refer to the Important Dates page for details.

Project Guidelines

• Only individual projects are accepted. Team projects are not permitted.

• Duplicate projects from the same school are not allowed.

• All students must comply with the CONSEF Project Safety Guidelines.

• The maximum number of projects participating in CONSEF is 45 per division per school.

• No student may participate in both the CONSEF Project Session and STEM EXPO demonstrations on the same day.

Awards

Students receive awards based on the scores they earn during judging. In addition, projects may compete for special recognitions such as Best of Category and the Grand Award.

For detailed information about awards, please visit the following LINK.

Contact Information

For additional information, please contact us at info@consef.org

Day of the Event

The following items include the rules and regulations for the event day. Please re-read them carefully 2–3 days prior to the event.

• Upon your arrival at the facility, take your project immediately to the appropriate room and space, then register.

• Do not leave your project during judging until it is announced that judging is complete.

• Since you represent yourself and your school, a neat appearance is important. Look good for the judges.

• Be aware that other students are being judged around you. Courteous behavior is expected of all participants as well as others at the event.

• Do not leave valuables or delicate items unattended during the public viewing.

• Do not dismantle your project until the project breakdown is announced. You are responsible for removing all materials from the display area.

• Parents should not be in the judging area during judging.

• Each project will be judged by at least three judges. Students must be present near their projects until it is announced that judging is complete. If a student is not present when the judges arrive, the project may not be awarded any points from that judge.

• Projects will be judged according to the attached criteria. Judges’ decisions are final.