Students may register for VDSF if they meet ALL<\/span> of the following criteria:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n VDSF ethics approval workshops for teachers are offered in October and November.<\/strong> <\/span>Prospective teacher sponsors need to attend one of these by Winter Break (December 18) whether their student’s project requires ethics approval or not. For more info, see VDSF Teams.<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n The project must be the work of the same one or two students<\/strong><\/span> from start to completion. Involvement from other students is not permitted at any point in the project’s development.<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n A project that was previously worked on by 2 students cannot be registered as a single person project. <\/strong>This includes situations where 1 student leaves the partnership the project is in between fairs, e.g. VDSF and GVRSF.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n A student may not present more than one project<\/strong><\/span> at VDSF in the same year.<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n A student may not present a project that has already been presented at a previous district or regional science fair.<\/strong> A project may be presented as the continuation of a previous project if there has been <\/span><\/span>substantial expansion or extension of the original investigation or design process (teacher sponsors will be asked to cite evidence of this before registration).<\/span> If the project is accepted to VDSF, students may only present on the new work completed since the previous fair, though the earlier work may be referenced.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n The project must meet\u00a0Youth Science Canada safety guidelines<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and Youth Science Canada ethics guidelines<\/span><\/a><\/strong>, as well as Youth Science Canada guidelines on the use of generative artificial intelligence in STEM projects<\/a><\/span><\/strong> (if applicable).<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n See VDSF registration<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for information on how\u00a0<\/strong>to navigate the registration process.<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n Students should register for VDSF using their VSB student e-mail<\/strong><\/span>,\u00a0not their personal e-mail.<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n Students should register according to the grade level<\/strong> <\/span>on their BC Ministry Form 1701. If the project partners are from different grade categories (e.g. junior and intermediate), both<\/strong> partners should register under the higher grade category.<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n If a project requires ethics approval<\/strong><\/span>, students need to submit a formal request (see Ethics Approval<\/strong><\/a><\/span>). Once registration closes, any project without ethics approval will be disqualified.<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n Students may only identify someone as their teacher<\/strong> sponsor, parent\/guardian, or project mentor<\/strong><\/span> if they have contacted that person and obtained their informed consent (preferably in writing, for project mentors).\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n Misrepresenting<\/strong> <\/span>the nature of a project or anyone involved with the project (e.g. student, teacher sponsor, parent\/guardian, project mentor) by deliberately withholding, fabricating, or altering information during the registration or ethics approval process is a serious offense. This may result in notification of the school, ineligibility for advancement to GVRSF, disqualification from VDSF, and\/or restrictions on participation in future fairs.<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n It is the student’s responsibility to check their VSB student e-mail <\/strong><\/span>for updates to their VDSF registration or ethics approval request and respond in a timely manner.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n <\/p>\r\n Successful completion of registration does not<\/span> mean that a project has been accepted to VDSF.<\/span> <\/strong>The number of projects at VDSF is capped and projects are accepted based on school allocation limits. Additional projects are waitlisted and accepted if unclaimed spots become available.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n <\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n <\/p>\r\n VDSF participants are expected to know their judging schedule and be mindful of their judges’ time.<\/strong><\/span> This means standing ready at their display board before judges arrive and keeping to the time limit. Judges are not expected to wait around or return for a make-up round if a participant misses their session.<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n VDSF participants are expected to attend all of their scheduled judging sessions.<\/strong> <\/span>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. Both project partners must be present at all judging sessions.<\/span> <\/strong>Judges are directed to look for effective communication from both <\/strong>project partners. If either partner has or anticipates a schedule conflict due to commitments (e.g. provincial tournaments, school performances), they should notify VDSF as early as possible. Accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis, but only where possible. Decisions made by VDSF are final and not subject to appeal.<\/strong> <\/span>VDSF includes its safety officers, judges, Chief Judge, and coordinator.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n <\/p>\r\n [Last updated:<\/strong> August 2026]<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PARTICIPANT ELIGIBILITY Students may register for VDSF if they meet ALL of the following criteria: They are enrolled in a school within the Vancouver […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":0,"parent":515,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1140","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vsb.bc.ca\/vdsf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vsb.bc.ca\/vdsf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vsb.bc.ca\/vdsf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vsb.bc.ca\/vdsf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vsb.bc.ca\/vdsf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1140"}],"version-history":[{"count":55,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vsb.bc.ca\/vdsf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2101,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vsb.bc.ca\/vdsf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1140\/revisions\/2101"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vsb.bc.ca\/vdsf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vsb.bc.ca\/vdsf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.vsb.bc.ca\/vdsf\/files\/2025\/08\/harleen.chels_.kinesiology.png\")
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\r\n\r\n\r\nPROJECT ELIGIBILITY<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\r\n
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\r\nREGISTRATION GUIDELINES<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\r\n
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\r\nSTUDENT EXPECTATIONS AT VDSF<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Students are expected to observe the district student code of conduct (VSB AP 350<\/a><\/span>) for the duration of VDSF. <\/span><\/strong>This applies whether they are at VDSF as participants, visitors, or volunteers and in both virtual and in-person spaces.\u00a0<\/li>\r\n