Google Science Fair judging – finding the top 15

Editor's note: We've invited guest blogger Jemma Best to provide feedback from the judges. Jemma is a project manager from EdComs, the organization that coordinated the judging process.

After months of planning and preparation, the judging team was raring to go when the submission deadline for the 2012 competition finally arrived.

The preliminary judges enjoyed a hectic but fascinating April reading thousands of amazing entries submitted by young scientists in over one hundred countries to identify 90 outstanding regional finalists. The judges felt that the overall standard this year was even higher than in 2011, with more entries of very high quality to evaluate. In addition to scoring high in the judging criteria, the judges found that the best entries also:

• surprised and excited the judges
• were inspiring and clearly expressed
• demonstrated meticulous scientific method
• adhered to the judging criteria for each section
• clearly addressed the question and hypothesis
• could make a positive difference
• demonstrated the entrants’ enthusiasm for their work

In May, academics and experts from high profile scientific organizations met in London to evaluate and select the 15 exceptional individuals or teams with the highest scoring projects, who will be flown to Google headquarters in California for a celebratory Science Fair event and the final round of judging. Selecting the top 15 from such a strong pool was both an honor and a real challenge for our panel, who went away inspired by the entrants’ achievements.

We’re very excited about meeting the top 15 in California, where the judges will select the Google Science Fair 2012 winners.

Jemma Best
Google Science Fair Judging Panel Coordinator