Junior Science and Humanities Symposium

Students

New this year - Friday morning will include tours at scientific organizations - SEAGATE and ECOLAB.
All Student Presenters are required to attend a Tour.
Learn more by clicking here

Paper and Presentation Guidelines

Your paper and presentation must follow guidelines set by the national competition.
For complete details,
Click Here.

Everything you need to know about JSHS & the State Science & Engineering Fair

What is the JSHS?

The Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) is a scientifc research paper competition. A paper competition is an event in which students present the results of their research paper to a group of judges. JSHS is for students in grades 9-12 in the tri-state (Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota) area. The JSHS competition will now occur just prior to the State Science & Engineering Fair (the Fair is a project competition for both Junior and Senior High students and a paper Competition for Junior High students).

JSHS has an emphasis both on sharing and doing science. The program is modeled after professional scientific symposia: students present the results of their independent research orally in a competition that is as much forensic as scientific.

The six (6) major JSHS disciplines for papers follow the National Symposium disciplines.

Environmental science; Earth and Space Science

Engineering

Physical Sciences

Life sciences

Medicine and Health; Behavioral and Social Sciences

Mathematics and Computer Science

Eligibility

Each Senior High School student in grades 9-12 will have an opportunity to enter the Minnesota Academy of Science Junior Science and Humanities Symposium through 1 of 2 paths. NOT BOTH WAYS.

Path_1:

Regional Fair Competition - Submit a paper to your Regional Science Fair. If you are one of the winners from your region, you will automatically be qualified to compete in the North Central Regional JSHS at State. Details will be provided by your regional science fair director.

Registration begins 2/1/2011
Registration Deadline: 5-10 business days after qualifying Regional Fair:

2/11/2011 -	Reg DEADLINE - Northeast Regional Fair
2/19/2011 -	DEADLINE for Mentor Award nominations
2/25/2011 -	Reg DEADLINE - Rochester Regional Fair
2/25/2011 -	Reg DEADLINE - South Central/Southwest Regional Fair
2/25/2011 -	Reg DEADLINE - Northern Regional Fair
3/4/2011 -	Reg DEADLINE - Western Regional Fair Reg DEADLINE
3/4/2011 -	Reg DEADLINE - Twin Cities Regional Fair
3/4/2011 -	DEADLINE for SRC paperwork
3/4/2011 -	Reg DEADLINE - Southeast Regional Fair
3/4/2011 -	Reg DEADLINE - Central Regional Fair
3/7/2011 -	Reg DEADLINE - General Registation

Path_2:

Open Paper Competition - Submit a paper to the JSHS Open Competition. If you are one of the winners from this competition, you will be qualified to compete in the North Central Regional JSHS competition.
Registration begins 12/1/2010

Please note: You may only submit your paper to one of the two paths mentioned above. Papers submitted to both competitions will be disqualified.

How long is my presentation?

Your primary JSHS presentation should be 12 minutes long, with an additional 6 minutes for Questions and Answers by the judges.

You are not required to present a Power Point or other technological presentation, but most students do. Each room will be equipped with a projection screen and an extension cord for such purposes. In 2009, the MN Academy of Science, thanks to the generosity of Breck School, will be able to provide projectors for all presentations and may be able to provide laptops for all presentations as well. Please bring your presentation (in a PowerPoint format) on a memory stick to upload to our laptop when you arrive. NOT ALL LAPTOPS will accept a Vista version of PowerPoint, so please also save your presentation as a 2007 or earlier version. We also recommend you bring your own laptop in case your presentation does not format correctly on the provided laptop.

You should bring 10 copies of your abstracts to hand out to the judges in your room.

If you are invited to present your paper research in the Callback round later on Saturday night, you will need to present a shorter version - you will have 8 minutes to present, with 5 minutes of Q & A. Again, you are responsible to provide your own equipment for Power Point presentations.

How are JSHS Scores tabulated?

JSHS has two rounds - a 1st round in which all competitors present - and a 2nd "callback" round limited to the top 9 or 10 presentations.

In the 1st round, judges score students presentations on a scale of 1-30, using a score sheet provided by the National JSHS organization. These scores are "normalized" using a popular statistical calculation that MAS uses for Project scoring during the State Science & Engineering Fair (and which is used at many regional, state, and international competitions).

The top presentations from round 1 are invited to the 2nd "callback" round to present a shorter (8 minute) presentation. Judges in the 2nd round see all the same papers and rank the paper presentations they watch. Rankings are used to determine the National JSHS winners. If a numeric tie occurs, the judges discuss and resolve the tie.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I still participate in the MN State Science & Engineering Fair as a Project Presenter?

ABSOLUTELY! In fact, we encourage you to submit a project to your Minnesota Regional Science Fair's Project Competition. We hope you will be able to join us for both JSHS and State Science & Engineering Fair.

What age can participate in JSHS?

The primary focus of the Symposium is for students in grades 9-12. Regional Science Fairs and the State Science & Engineering Fair offer Paper Competitions for Junior High Students as well, though these are not directly related to JSHS. Junior High students may wish to attend JSHS as observers. This gives them an excellent opportunity to "learn the JSHS ropes", thereby preparing for their own competition in years to come.

If I'm not presenting a Paper, can I still attend JSHS?

YES! One of the main purposes of having non-presenting students attend JSHS is to encourage them to write research papers and learn more about the research process. Plus it gives you the opportunity to meet students from across the state and North and South Dakota who are interested in science and scientific discovery. Fees for attending are listed here.

What happens after JSHS?

Students who compete in the regional symposia by presenting their original research are eligible for valuable awards. At each of the forty-eight symposia, one 1st place finalist receives an undergraduate scholarship and an invitation to present their research at the National symposium. Five finalists are awarded an expense-paid trip to National.