The judging rounds at most science fairs make up one-third of your final score in the competition. This could ultimately make or break your ability to advance to the next competition or win competitive awards. 

Most competitors I’ve met dream of getting to ISEF, which usually takes a regional and state fair to get to, so you will have to go through at least three judging rounds throughout their science fair journey in just one season. This is a lot to internalize, especially if you’re new to the competitive research or public speaking scene.

I’m Kara Gaiser, a ScienceFair Coach and Mechanical Engineering student at UC Berkeley, focused on the aerospace industry with experience at NASA and space startups. In high school, I competed in all levels of science fair from regional to Regeneron ISEF, where I am a two-time Grand Award winner. 

Most students who I work with often ask me: How do I best prepare for judging? What questions should I expect? Is there anything I should or should not say? 

In this article, I’ll give you 5 common questions I see during judging rounds (some of which I got myself when I competed in ISEF) and how to best answer them.

Five most common questions judges ask at science fairs

1. What is the impact of your project?

Judges usually ask this question or a similar question, reworded. What they’re ultimately trying to get at is how applicable your project is to the relevant industry or problem at hand. In fact, what most students do not realize is that “impact” is ~20 points (out of 100) on the final ISEF rubric. This question is one you should practice a lot. It should have a clear flow: purpose → solution → measurable impact. This is where you “wow” your judge.

2. How would you improve upon X, Y, Z?

This is very project dependent, but judges are normally looking for humble researchers (no research is 100% perfect!), and more importantly, researchers who are aware of alternative procedures or equipment they could have utilized and who can make a clear argument for why. This demonstrates to the judges that you have thought outside the box and have thoroughly considered your project’s boundary conditions and requirements.

3. What are your future plans for this project?

The answer to this question should always be related to your current project (even if you have plans to do something completely different!). This shows interest in your current topic, and gives you an opportunity to show the judge what you could do with potential award money. Elaborate on specific parts of your experimental setup or procedure that could be enhanced or improved upon.

4. What is the statistical significance of your data?

Judges are looking primarily for the following aspects of your project: data reproducibility, appropriateness of statistical methods used, and sufficient amounts of data to conduct such data analysis. 

This is a really important step to establish credibility and rapport with the judges, and also an easy way to gain an edge over other projects. I have seen many projects that have a lot of data points, but do not have any metrics on how important the data collected is. While many high school students have not taken statistics classes (usually, the concepts of t-tests or R-squared values are only taught in AP Statistics courses), try to learn how to do statistical analysis that is relevant to your data.

5. Please explain to me [insert technical term].

While not a specific question, one of the most commonly asked questions in science fair judging is a question revolving around a technical process or piece of background information. This is a probing question for the judge to understand the researcher’s depth of knowledge on the subject. These judges are likely experts in the category’s field, so they will already know what the right answer is. You must rehearse explaining important technical concepts concisely and in detail, ensuring that you use industry-relevant jargon.

What judges look for at science fair

Strong judging performance is rarely about having the best project– it’s about how well a student can communicate their thinking, decisions, and impact under pressure. 

The questions outlined in this article are directly tied to how judges are trained to evaluate research using the official judging rubric (visit the following ISEF Judging Criteria for more information).

The more you practice these questions intentionally, you learn to speak with clarity, confidence, and scientific maturity. Judging then becomes an opportunity to highlight strengths rather than expose gaps. Keep practicing these questions until you can answer them in your sleep, and you’ll be able to turn your already strong research into a competitive, award-winning project.