What is an affiliation?
An affiliation is a science fair or subset of a science fair with clear geographic boundaries and adequate size (number of high schools represented and number of
high school students competing) which sends its top high school projects (grades 9-12) to compete in the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and
its top middle school projects (grades 6-8) to compete in the Broadcom MASTERS competition. Each affiliation is assigned by SSP a number of projects (one or more)
to send to ISEF for that year. The number of projects that can be sent to ISEF from the affiliated fair depends on the number of students in grades 9-12 competing
in the previous year's affiliated fair, the total number of high schools (grades 9-12) with projects at the previous year's affiliated fair, the population basis,
and the number of students participating in feeder science fairs (school or club fairs). The International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)—the world's
largest pre-college science competition—provides an opportunity for the best young scientists from around the globe to share ideas, showcase cutting-edge science projects,
and compete for over $4 million in awards and scholarships. Approximately 10% of middle school students in each affiliation advance to the Broadcom MASTERS competition.
All projects (including middle school projects) are assigned an affiliation when registered for TCRSF.
The affiliation is used to determine eligibility for ISEF-sponsored awards given at TCRSF for both middle school and high school.
The Minnesota State Science and Engineering Fair is also an ISEF-affiliated fair. Projects (grades 9-12) that are not already chosen for
ISEF competition from a regional level affiliated fair are considered for further competition.
Which ISEF affiliation will my student compete in?
The Twin Cities Regional Science Fairs (TCRSF) have three affiliations with ISEF which covers the nine counties of Ramsey, Hennepin, Washington, Dakota, Anoka, Chisago, Isanti, Sherburne, & Wright.
When students register for TCRSF, each project will be assigned to one of these three affiliations: Twin Cities (T), St. Paul (S), or Western Suburbs (W).
All three affiliation fairs together are included in the "Twin Cities Regional Science Fairs" and each affiliated fair represents a different demographic and geographic area.
Students are placed in their affiliation based on the location of their school's district headquarters.
Schools in Ramsey, Hennepin, Washington and Dakota counties whose school district headquarters are east of
35W compete in the Twin Cities affiliation. Schools in these counties whose school district headquarters are west of 35W compete in the Western
Suburbs affiliation. The exception to this rule is for the St. Paul affiliation. Students who attend a school with headquarters located
within the St. Paul city limits are in the St. Paul affiliated fair.
Therefore, students compete based on the location of their school's district headquarters.
The headquarters of a private school is determined by the location of the private school.
A home-schooled student's location is determined by their home school location. A student is assigned to the affiliation where they are
REGISTERED as a student, even if they attend classes elsewhere as a PSEO student.
The Twin Cities (T) affiliation will will include students attending school in Chisago and Isanti counties.
The Western Suburbs (W) affiliation will will include students attending school in Anoka, Sherburne, and Wright counties.
For Minnesota State Science and Engineering Fair and for JSHS, all students are considered to come from the Twin Cities region.
At this time, the state considers TCRSF as one mega-fair instead of three simultaneous regional fairs.