Students
Are you new to IJAS? Check our guide for new students HERE
NEW UPDATES: Students may compete individually if not attending a member school. NEW DESIGN AND EXPERIMENTAL RUBRICS
General Reminder: Students must first submit a project at their Regional Exposition to participate in the State Exposition. If your school is not affiliated with the IJAS State or region, you may join an affiliated group or individually to enter your project at the regional exposition to qualify for the state exposition.
Important Dates:
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Dec 31st: Membership Due for Schools and Individuals
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February 15th: Student Registration DUE to State
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Febuary - March: Regional Fairs (Across the State)
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April 24th - 25th: State Fair - Southern Illinois University in Carbondale
Starting a Project - Tips
The science exposition allows students to discover virtually anything they want about STEM! Categories include everything from aerospace to zoology and so much more in between! For a full list of all 20 categories, please see the Category Guide.
Students have the opportunity to create either an experimental project or a design project. What's the difference? A complete breakdown of the two types of projects can be viewed on pages 10-12 of the Policy and Procedure Manual 2024-2026 . Additional How-To videos can also be found on the "How-To Videos" page under the "Getting Started" dropdown menu on the IJAS website. See below for a general version of the similarities and differences between these two types of investigations!
Developing a Project Idea
A common theme between good projects is that they are meaningful to the student. Don't do a project just because you think it will look good. Instead, do a project that you are passionate and excited about, and one that really serves to solve a problem. Judges want to know the real-world applications of your project.
A list of resources to inspire you to develop a good project can be found under the "Project Resources" page of the IJAS website. However, make sure to develop a unique project idea. Don't just copy science that has already been done!
If you have any questions, please contact your sponsor or email us at info@ijas.org
Poster vs. Paper Session
IJAS gives students the opportunity to compete in two different sessions--the paper and poster sessions. Students may compete in one of the sessions at State. Additional details for the sessions can be found in the Policy and Procedure Manual 2024-2026.
Students who choose to present their project in the Paper Session will develop their own slide presentation (i.e. PowerPoint, Google Slides, Prezi, etc.) in addition to having a written report and oral presentation.
Students who choose to present their project in the Poster Session will create a backboard with all of the parts mentioned above. The backboard is to be used to augment the student's written report and oral presentation.
NOTE: Students may NOT participate in both paper and poster session at the State Fair(It is allowed at regional fairs, however if they qualify for the state exposition in both events, they must chose one). Students may use a previous year's poster session project for paper session.