Upstate NY Junior Science and Humanities Symposium

Registration Packets for the Upstate NY JSHS are due by Wednesday, February 14, 2024.

Registration packets include:

• Registration Form - JSHS 2024 (Excel spreadsheet)
• Registration Policy (Page 2, signed PDF)
• Permission Forms (All students, signed PDF)
• Purchase Order

All items must be emailed to [email protected] by the teacher.

Ideal Logic: All attendees must register via Ideal Logic. (This used to be "CVENT.") Register Here.

• Speaker and Poster Presenters should register as "Student Participant" and will need to upload their abstract, research paper and statement of outside assistance.
• Student Observers should register as "Other Guests," so they do not need to upload anything.

Administrative Fee of $65 per school

Checks and purchase orders must be made payable to: Research Foundation for SUNY.
Payment should be mailed to the following address:

UHS/JSHS
1400 Washington Avenue
Management Services Center 312
Albany, NY 12222

Payment will not be accepted at the symposium.

Refunds in full for cancellations will be made until Wednesday, February 21, 2024. After this date, no refunds will be granted.

School districts who are experiencing circumstances of financial difficulty and are unable to pay the administrative fee should contact us directly at [email protected] by February 1 to discuss other options.

Program Ads

School administrators and family members may purchase an ad in the symposium program. See the Program Ad Order Form for details. Any questions may be directed to [email protected].

1/4 page (4.25"x5.5") = $50
1/2 page (8.5"x5.5") = $100
Full page (8.5"x11") = $200

Registration Types

Indicate the Registration Type for each person attending, on the Registration Form:

• Full = All events and all meals both days
• Wednesday = All events and meals for Wednesday only
• Thursday = All events and meals for Thursday only
• Visitor W = Viewing the presentations for Wednesday only, no meals
• Visitor T = Viewing the presentations for Thursday only, no meals

Speaker presenters at the Upstate NY JSHS must register for the entire symposium and stay through the awards ceremony on Wednesday evening. Absence may only be authorized by Upstate NY JSHS Directors.

Student Presenters

Speaker and poster presenters must email [email protected] with items specified on their guidelines by the Tuesday after their sub-regional.

Speaker Presentations

Awards Ceremony
-Dinner
-Keynote Address
-Art & Science Winner Announced
-Speaker Session Winners Announced
-Thursday's Schedule Details

Final Speaker Sessions

Poster Presentations

Awards Ceremony
-Lunch
-Poster Winners Announced
-Final Speaker Winners Announced
-National JSHS Information
-Closing Remarks

Download JSHS Schedule 2024

Abstract Guidelines

The abstract should accurately convey the essential nature of the research conducted and the most significant conclusions reached. A further purpose of the abstract is to attract the interest and curiosity of the non-specialist reader and thus encourage exchange, discussion, and elaboration between various authors and between authors and readers.

The format for the abstract must be:

• 250 words maximum paragraph
• 1-inch margins
• Justified alignment
• Times New Roman 12pt font

View the abstract form example. Abstracts must be adequate in length but not exceed these specifications.

The header preceding the abstract body must include:

1. Title of the research (bolded and properly capitalized)
2. Authors’ Name(s)
3. Category and Sub-Category*
4. High School Name, High School City, High School State
5. Name of Teacher(s). Precede their name with a subheading (Teacher)
6. Name of Mentor and their organization. Precede their name with a subheading (Mentor)
7. Include one line of space between the heading and the abstract body

*Student presenters must state on the abstract the major category and the sub-category of their research. See Eight Categories of Regional and National Symposia. (At the NY Upstate Regional those eight categories will be truncated to accommodate five judging rooms.)
Save the abstract as a .docx and email to [email protected] within 72 hours of your sub-regional.

Symposium proceedings will include abstracts. Please carefully proofread your submission since abstracts will not be retyped or edited. Abstracts should be submitted as Microsoft Word documents.

Download Abstract Guidelines

Research Paper Guidelines

Your research should be original, if not completely unique. It must report findings not previously cited in scientific literature. It is important that:

• Content and style be consistent with professional scientific conference papers. Consult your mentor or your teacher for proper format for your project.
• Your research is concise and progresses logically from hypothesis to conclusion.
• Conclusions (negative, positive or inconclusive) demonstrate that you attempted to prove your hypothesis using scientific principles.
• Correct grammar and spelling are used. Neatness and good presentation are also important.

Format

• APA Style student format.
  • Times New Roman 12pt font; Page number in top right corner of each page; 1-inch margins; etc.
• Minimum of 5-6 pages and a maximum of 40 pages, including appendices and references.
• Double spaced.
• Photography, graphs, tables, diagram, charts, or other graphic representation presented in the paper must be simply presented.

Recommended outline for the research paper includes:

• a title page, or cover page stating the student's name, school address, and title of the research,
• acknowledgement of major assistance received,
• as applicable, statement that "research involving non-human vertebrates or human subjects was conducted under the supervision of an experienced teacher or research and followed state and federal regulatory guidance applicable to the humane and ethical conduct of such research,"
• table of contents,
• introduction,
• materials and methods,
• results (data or findings),
• discussion and conclusions,
• references, or literature cited, and
• appendices (if necessary but please keep in mind that the introduction is far more valuable in the judging process than appendices of raw data)

E-mail the PDF of research paper to [email protected] within 72 hours of your sub-regional.

Download Research Paper Guidelines

Guidelines for Poster Presentation

Display

Prepare a brief (5 minute) oral description of your research for the judge teams and be ready to answer their questions.
Materials for the poster may be pre-printed or handwritten and may be attached to a tri-fold board as one large sheet or in pieces. Posters for competition must include and meet the following standards:

• Poster board dimensions are 36" high x 48" wide. The poster board includes two folds; fold dimensions are 12" x 24" x 12".
• Header boards are allowed and must be no larger than 10" high x 36" wide. The header board should only contain a title.
• The poster should be visible from a 4-foot distance.
• The Title should be at least one inch (72 pts) in height on the header board.
• The student's name should be included, but the high school must NOT be included. The student's name should be about 48 pts.
• All other lettering should be about 24-pt font size. (Font size is suggested.)
• The poster should be balanced and organized in a logical, sequential order.
• Keep the amount of text to a minimum.
• There should be more emphasis on graphics, tables, charts, and graphs. These items should be cited on the poster board.
• Photographs in addition to other illustrations may be used. Figures may be in color.
• No hazardous materials are allowed. No specimens, no apparatus, no chemical reagents, no models are to be used during the presentation. Only printed material, affixed to the poster, will be allowed for the poster presentation.
• All materials must be prepared and "poster ready" in advance of arriving.
• Wooden board are not permitted for competition.

Once you have presented your findings to the judges, please remain by your poster to speak with other symposium attendees.

Some posters will be displayed on tables, and some will be displayed on easels. You will be notified which type of room your poster group will be displayed in at least one week prior to the symposium.

Submissions

• Submit your abstract following the guidelines listed on the Upstate NY JSHS website.

The University at Albany will not be held accountable for posters left unattended.

Download Poster Presenter Guidelines

Guidelines for Speaker Presentation

Presentation

The research presentation may not exceed 12 minutes, followed by a maximum 6-minute question period. A session moderator will aid the student speaker in maintaining this schedule and in fielding questions from the audience. At the 12-minute point, the student speaker must stop the presentation even if they have not finished. Following the presentation, the session moderator will ask for judging panel questions. If time permits, the speaker may entertain questions from the audience while the exchange appears interesting and relevant. Questions intended to harass the student speakers will not be allowed by the session moderator. The speaker should repeat a question before answering so the audience may understand the entire dialogue. Presenters are not allowed to bring anything to the presentation such as proof of design or materials. Everything presented must be in the presentation slides alone.

PowerPoint Suggestions

Student presenters are reminded to:

• Embed any video, or other presentation developed through other software, into PowerPoint.
• Save the PowerPoint presentation to a USB drive and plug into available equipment.
• Bring back-up media.
• If using video, students must comply with the following ground rules:
  • The video component cannot make up more than one minute of the presentation and must be directly relevant to the project.
  • No audio or background music is permitted other than sounds that are an integral part of the research. Recorded or mechanically produced narration is not permitted. Narration must come from the speaker.
  • Videos (and audio, if any) may be used only for those aspects of the presentation that cannot adequately be presented in a slide. Video material presented must be an integral part of the research and should not be a substitute for presentation of data. Videos must not be used for presentation of common procedures, illustrating equipment or showing laboratory facilities. Videos should illustrate work that was done and should not be used for stimulation or aesthetic value.

Important: During the question-and-answer period, students may not show any slides that were not part of their 12-minute presentation.

Technology

You must bring a copy of your presentation on a USB drive. All presentations must be loaded in advance, during the registration check-in time, onto the computer in your session room. Presentations must be compatible with Microsoft PowerPoint (preferably saved as a .pptx file). You will be notified of your session room, presentation time and type of computer you'll be using at least one week prior to the symposium. For technical assistance and/or questions about format, you may contact Len Behr ([email protected]) a minimum of ten days before the symposium.

Speaker presenters at the Upstate NY JSHS must register for the entire symposium and stay through the awards ceremony on Wednesday evening. Absence may only be authorized by Upstate NY JSHS Directors.

Students should be prepared to present again on Thursday morning, should they be chosen to do so.

Speaker presenters must also be prepared with a decision to accept or decline their spot as an Upstate NY delegate at National JSHS 2024.

National JSHS will be May 1-4, 2024 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Download Speaker Presentation Guidelines

Student finalists presenting their research paper at the Regional and National symposium must complete this form and submit with the final research paper.

Download Statement of Outside Assistance Form

Teachers are responsible for the following:

• Submit registration packet to Upstate NY JSHS Coordinator ([email protected]) by the deadline:
  • Registration Form (Excel spreadsheet)
  • Registration Policy (Signed PDF)
  • Permission Form (For all students)
• Ensure all attendees register via CVENT.
• Ensure payment is made from the school to the Research Foundation for SUNY.
• Review the hotel group block information and contact the hotel directly to make reservations and payment. Some hotels have a link for reservations. All hotels will release unreserved hotel rooms from the group block on their cut-off date.
• Ensure that student presenters follow all the requirements and guidelines for participating in the Upstate NY JSHS (such as abstract/paper format and submission, statement of outside assistance, poster/PowerPoint format requirements, etc).
• Chaperone students during sub-regional and regional JSHS. Only a teacher can be a designated chaperone.
• Serve as moderator (optional). To volunteer, contact the Upstate NY JSHS Coordinator. 

Teachers who have no association with or allegiance to the student speakers will serve as moderators during the speaker presentations.

The moderator is responsible for timing and managing the speaker presentation. Moderators ensure that presentations do not exceed 12 minutes and that the speaker is signaled when there are less than 2 minutes left in their presentation time.

At the end of 12 minutes, if the speaker is not finished, the moderator must interrupt the speaker with an admonition that they may finish the sentence they are on and then stop speaking.

Moderators do not pose questions to the student presenters.

Moderators manage questions at the conclusion of the presentations and gather the judging results. Moderators also attend the judging sessions and compile brief, constructive critiques for verbal feedback to students and teachers upon request.

Moderators compile the judges' ranking of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place students and deliver this information to the Upstate NY JSHS Coordinator.

General Duties

• Introduce each speaker’s name and title of research (refer to info sheet). We recommend asking each speaker in advance for the proper pronunciation of their names and terms used in their presentation titles.
• Introduce Judges (refer to info sheet).
• Announce to audience:
  • Turn off cell phones and devices.
  • Maintain a respectful silence and minimize movement during presentations.
  • No photographs or videos may be taken until the Question & Answer period.
  • Announce presentation schedule (below) and ask speakers to acknowledge you (by eye contact or nod) when you signal the two minute warning.
  • No coaching of any kind is allowed from any member of the audience.

Each student’s presentation must adhere to the following timeline:

• 12 minutes are allotted for each student’s uninterrupted oral presentation.
• When precisely 10 minutes have elapsed in the presentation, briefly indicate that there are 2 minutes remaining, by standing and attempting eye contact with the presenter. Be sure the student sees and acknowledges you.
• When precisely 12 minutes have elapsed, stand and remain standing. Student must stop immediately. Begin taking questions from the judges.
• During Question & Answer period, students may not show slides that were not part of their 12-minute presentation.

Schedule

It is imperative that the following schedule be followed exactly. This schedule allows approximately 12 minutes between speaker presentations so observers can relocate if they'd like to.

Managing Questions

• 6 minutes are allowed for Question & Answer per presentation.
• Be sure the student repeats the question so everyone can hear it.
• Invite questions from only the judges. No more than 2 consecutive questions should come from the same judge.
• Disallow any questions that, in your judgment, are designed to embarrass or denigrate.

Deliberations

• The moderator must stay during the judges' deliberations to take notes and summarize comments. Moderators should be prepared to give, upon request, an oral overview of the judges' comments to students and/or teachers. Written comments are not to be given out.
• The moderator conveys the judges’ decisions to the Upstate NY JSHS Coordinator.

Download Moderator Instructions

Final Session Recorder Instructions

The Final Session Recorder has the responsibility of sitting in on the deliberations of the finalist judges, and recording the judges' comments on each of the five student finalists.

This includes:

• What the judges liked about the presentation and/or research
• What elements could have been improved
• What elements should be added
• What elements should be deleted from the presentation

Judges’ comments will not be handed out in handwritten form.

Upon request, the recorder will verbally relay any comments made by the judges to the teachers and/or student presenters.

The results of the final deliberations will determine:

• 1st and 2nd place winners will go on to compete as oral presenters at National JSHS
• 3rd place winner will present their poster and be designated as an alternate in the event that the 1st or 2nd place winner cannot compete at National JSHS oral competition.
• 4th & 5th place winners will present their poster.

Download Final Session Recorder Instructions

Mentors are the guiding force behind the success of students presenting their work at JSHS. Through the Science Research in the High School program, students work closely with a mentor who assists them with their scientific research. The mentor -- from the sciences, academia or the business world -- provides the impetus and guidance a student needs to bring his/her research topic through the stages of experimentation and analysis to the conclusions and, indeed, revelations, that are unveiled at the JSHS. Mentors are encouraged to attend the JSHS.

The director of the Upstate NY JSHS and its affiliates make every effort to ensure that the judges at all symposia (sub-regional and regional) are the best judges available.

Sub-regional Symposia

Wherever possible, only current research professionals are invited to serve on the panel of judges for each sub-regional symposium. At the least, all judges have master’s level science proficiency. The judges evaluate the submissions of abstracts and research papers and select the students whose original experimental research distinguishes them in the speaker or poster categories.

While each sub-regional symposium is structured slightly differently, all judges follow defined criteria for choosing winners. Ranking and advancement to the regional symposium is determined by each sub-regional judging panel.

Regional Symposium

At the regional level, all judges are either university science professors or current research professionals at other local institutions. The majority of our judges see this symposium as a valuable asset to the local science community and serve for many years.

Download the Role of Judges & Judges' Decisions

Duties & Judging Criteria

Judges must select 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners for each group.

Updated guidelines forthcoming.

Download Poster Judge Duties

Download Poster Judge Rubric

Duties & Judging Criteria

Wednesday: Judges must select 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners for each group.
Thursday: Judges will rank the five finalists 1st through 5th place.

Download Speaker Judge Duties

Download Speaker Judge Rubric

2024

• Location: Yorktown High School
• Date: Saturday, January 20, 2024 (with a snow date of January 21st)
• Deadline for Registration: October 20, 2023
• Deadline for Students’ Paper & Abstract Submission: November 17, 2023
• Teachers will receive registration information directly.
• WES/ROC Student Information Booklet

Guidelines for students can be found on this website.

Teachers requiring further information or assistance may contact Paul Rubeo or Len Behr.

Students who qualify for Upstate NY JSHS after presenting at the WESROC JSHS should refer to this checklist for the next steps.

2024

• Location: Taconic Hills High School, 73 County Route 11A, Craryville, NY
• Date: Saturday, January 27th, 2024
• Deadline for Registration: Friday, December 1st, 2023
• Deadline for Students’ Paper & Abstract Submission: December 1st, 2023

All information can be found on the Eastern Sub-Regional JSHS website. Click Here!

Teachers requiring further information or assistance may contact:
Eastern Sub-Regional Coordinator Linda Hopkins ([email protected]) or Science Research in the High School Director Len Behr ([email protected]).

Students who qualify for Upstate NY JSHS after presenting at the Eastern JSHS should refer to this checklist for the next steps.

2024 - All information has yet to be determined.

• Location: Louise Slaughter Hall, 78 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623
• Date: Saturday, January 27, 2024
• Deadline for Online Registration: January 8, 2024
• Deadline for Students’ Paper & Abstract Submission: January 8, 2024

Apply Here

Download Central Western JSHS Flyer

For questions, contact Kraig Farrell at [email protected]