Rules & Regulations

PARTICIPANT ELIGIBILITY

All VSB students are required to go through the Vancouver District Science Fair (VDSF) prior to any regional fair. Students may register for VDSF if they meet all of the following criteria:

  1. They are enrolled in a school within the Vancouver public school district **. This includes online courses (VLN), alternate schools (VASS), and district programs like the University Transition program (UTP).  
  2. They are a student in Grades 7 to 12 as indicated on their BC Ministry Form 1701 at the start of the school year. 
  3. They worked on their project on their own or with the same partner from start to completion.
  4. Their project meets Youth Science Canada’s ethics and safety guidelines.
  5. Their project has been selected by their school (e.g. in-house science fair, department nomination, etc.) to represent their school at VDSF.
  6. Their project has a teacher sponsor who has completed training in ethics approval and has enough knowledge of the project to be able to confirm all of the above, especially #4.

NEW for VDSF 2025: All prospective teacher sponsors are required to complete at least 1 ethics training session by Winter Break (Dec. 20). Sessions will be offered monthly on/around pro-D days. Details will be announced on VDSF Teams.

** A project can only be registered on behalf of one school district. If the project partners come from different school districts within the Greater Vancouver region, they have the option of choosing to represent the non-VSB district and applying directly to the regional fair instead.

 

PROJECT ELIGIBILITY

  • The project must be the work of the same one or two students from start to completion. Involvement from additional students is not permitted at any point in the project’s development.
  • A project worked on at any point by two students cannot register as a single person project, especially if one partner leaves the team while the project is between fairs.
  • A student may not present more than one project at VDSF in the same year.
  • A student may not present a project that was presented at a previous district or regional science fair. The student may reference the original project if they have substantially expanded on or extended the investigation or design process, but their presentation should only focus on new work completed since the previous fair.
  • The project work must meet both Youth Science Canada ethics guidelines and Youth Science Canada safety guidelines.

 

REGISTRATION GUIDELINES

See VDSF registration for information on how to navigate the registration process

  • Students should register for VDSF using their VSB student e-mail, not their personal e-mail.
  • Students should register for the grade category according to the grade level on their BC Ministry Form 1701. If the project partners are from different grade categories (e.g. junior and intermediate), both partners should register under the higher grade.
  • If a project requires ethics approval, students should follow the proper procedure for submitting a formal request (see Ethics Approval). Projects without proper ethics approval will be disqualified.
  • Students should not provide the names and contact info of their teacher sponsor, parent/guardian, or project mentors without first obtaining the knowledge and consent and those individuals. Teacher sponsors and project mentors should have adequate scientific expertise and personal knowledge of the project to independently confirm the project’s eligibility. 
  • It is the student’s responsibility to check their VSB student e-mail regularly for updates to their VDSF registration or ethics approval request and respond in a timely manner. 
  • Successful completion of registration does not mean that a project has been accepted to VDSF. The number of projects at VDSF is capped and projects are accepted based on school allocation limits. Additional projects are waitlisted and accepted as unclaimed spots become available. If there are not enough spots, further selection will be done by an external review panel. Their decisions are final and not subject to appeal.

 

STUDENT EXPECTATIONS AT VDSF

  • After registration closes, all students should check their e-mail to confirm their acceptance and look for important event info.
  • By submitting the VDSF project confirmation form, students are indicating that they are interested and available to attend VDSF. If not, students should notify their teacher sponsor and the VDSF coordinator right away.
  • VDSF participants should attend all of their scheduled judging sessions. This ensures that their project is evaluated by the required minimum number of judges. Missing a judging session results in fewer evaluations, which may affect the project’s overall standing.
  • Judges are directed to look for effective communication from both project partners. If either partner has a schedule conflict due to other commitments (e.g. provincial tournaments, school performances), they should notify VDSF right away. Accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis, but only where possible.
  • Students attending VDSF are representing their schools whether they are there as participants or visitors. As such, they are expected to observe their school’s code of conduct for the duration of the event.
  • Decisions made by the VDSF Chief Judge, judges, safety officers, and coordinator are final and not subject to appeal.

[Last updated: September 2024]