Guide
I. Entry Requirements
1. Eligibility
a)
Each participating team shall consist of 1–3 high school students from
the same school (except MIT PRIMES), led by 1–2 instructors.
b) The
participating team (including those working under external guidance)
must have achieved original scientific research results.
Student Status:
Eligibility
is determined based on whether the participant is an enrolled high
school student at the time of registration. Cross-school teams are not
permitted.
Instructor Qualification:
The
instructor must be a teacher from a high school, university, or research
institution, and all information must be provided truthfully.
Instructors can not be affiliated with companies, training centers, or
any profit-oriented organizations. If the organizing committee has
reason to believe that a participant’s research report was completed
under the guidance of such an organization, it reserves the right to
disqualify the student from the competition and revoke any awards
received.
2. Division
South Division:
Zhejiang/Jiangsu/Shanghai/Guangdong/Guangxi/Hainan/Sichuan/Hunan/Guizhou/Yunnan/Xizang/Chongqing/Fujian/Jiangxi/Anhui
North Division:
Beijing/Hebei/Tianjin/Shanxi/Shandong/Inner Mongolia/ Sinkiang /Heilongjiang/Jilin/Liaoning/Henan/Shanxi/Ningxia/Gansu/Qinghai
Overseas:
There are two overseas regional programs: Asia, USA.
Asia regional program covers all of Asia except Mainland China. For details on its program, please go to its website: https://yashk.org.hk/yau-award
USA covers all districts, states and provinces in the USA and Canada.
If a team consists of students from more than one region, the program Executive Committee reserves its discretion to direct the concerned team to participate in a region of the Committee’s choice.
If a team consists of students from outside the noted regions, the program Executive Committee reserves its discretion to direct the concerned team to participate in a region of the Committee’s choice.
3. Application Process
a) Online account registration, submission of team and individual information.
b) Online submission of research reports and other required materials. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.
Registration website: https://www.yau-science-awards.org/login.html
4. Required Materials
a) Information of the participating team and individuals (to be completed online).
b) Research Report:
i. Format: PDF file.
ii. Each Report should include the following:
– Cover Page: name of student(s), province/state and country of the school with which the student(s) are affiliated, name of instructor(s), and title of the Report.
– After Cover Page: Title, Author(s), Abstract, Keywords, Table of Contents, and Body Text.
– Bibliography: starting on a separate page.
– Acknowledgment: describe the roles and contributions of each team member in completing the Research Report and, if applicable, any external assistance for the research.
–
Declaration of Academic Integrity.docx: please read carefully and sign.
iii. Requirements for the Research Report:
– Any form of plagiarism or other academic misconducts are strictly prohibited.
– References to existing research methods and conclusions must be indicated with clear citations and included in the bibliography. Each participating team should observe the common standard of academic integrity adopted by most journals or degree theses.
– The research content and research process must not violate laws and regulations, or general principles of public order and social customs.
– The research subject must not include food, tobacco, alcohol, drugs, or medical instruments that may entail physical or psychological harms to human beings or animals.
c) Plagiarism check report
A plagiarism check report of the final Research Paper must be submitted before the deadline of the Research Report submission. (Recommended plagiarism check platforms: HowNet, PaperPass)
d) Supplementary documents (optional): such as experiment videos or relevant text/graphic materials.
5. Special Notes
a) Registration and the submission of all materials must be completed through the online system. Submissions of hard copies alone will be deemed invalid.
b) The information of instructor(s) and participating student(s) cannot be changed after the deadline for the final Research Report submission.
c) It is possible for a student to participate in the competition of multiple disciplines, but one can only register in the competition of any discipline once.
d) If the participating team has submitted or published the same research report in other competitions, related information must be provided in the “research report submission” section during the account registration process.
e) If a final Research Report’s percentage of similarity exceeds 10%, the Organizing Committee will disqualify the participating team. In the extreme case of full-text plagiarism, all the participating teams from the same school will be disqualified from the competition. In addition, the school and its act of blatant plagiarism will be publicly reported.
f) Research Reports selected for the National Final will be published on the official website for public review within a period of seven days.
g) A contestant is allowed to submit more than one paper to compete in one year. In this case, the following rule applies. The papers submitted for competition by an author must not contain substantial overlap with each other. The author must also disclose clearly in the introduction of each submitted paper, the list of all papers being submitted for competition in the same year. The author and his submitted papers shall be disqualified without further review, should this rule be violated.
II. Schedule
Please pay attention to the website content, and refer to the latest announcement released annually for details.
III.Guidelines for Research Areas and Selection Criteria
1. Disciplinary relevance
Research topics must be related to the discipline of biology, which can be either empirical results obtained through experiments or purely theoretical analysis (for example, results of bioinformatic analysis). The main factor considered during evaluation is what specific problem is to be solved by this research.
2. Originality of research topics and research methods
The proposed problem to be solved must be clear and specific. Subjects for investigation could be either original problems or existing conjectures. A participating team is responsible for adequate literature review on the background or originality of its problems. A problem known to the learned community in general, but unknown to the participating teams do not constitute originality. Reports that provide only research ideas will not be considered for an award.
3. Accuracy of concepts and validity of conclusions
Concepts mentioned in the report must be presented accurately. The interpretation of data obtained through the research (both from experiments and theoretical calculations) must be robust, but it does not necessarily preclude alternative interpretations.
4. Truthfulness of research process
The submitted research reports must be completed by the participating student(s) under the guidance of the team instructor(s). No researcher (including graduate students) from any university or research institution shall complete any part of the research on behalf of the participating student(s). In case any part of the research process cannot be completed without external assistance, such as the operation of certain experiment equipment or tests, the names of the persons who have offered assistance and the nature of said assistance must be clearly specified in the report.
5. Contribution and potential to future Biology development :
A project carries high merits if the results will induce other or further advance in Biology sciences or if the methodology has potential for application in wider or other applications.
6. Compliance with academic norms
The research report should be written in accordance with academic norms and include at least the following sections: 1) title; 2) abstract; 3) introduction to research background and existing research; 4) research materials and approaches; 5) conclusion; 6) discussions; 7) bibliography; 8) acknowledgement of contributions of each member of the team. The research report must clearly distinguish original contents from existing materials that only provide background information. Any existing research not contributed by a member of the team must be clearly referenced.
7. If applicable, scholarship and clarity of spoken presentation
An oral presentation should demonstrate the background of the problem, key background materials, and above all, the teams’ original contributions.
8. If applicable, demonstration of teamwork
In oral presentation, it is expected that every participating student will speak on behalf of the team in an organized manner.
9. Academic ethics and integrity
IV. Evaluation Mechanism
September – October: Divisional Competition
November – November: Public review of Research Reports entering the National Final.
December: National Final and Award Ceremony (Location: Tsinghua University).
The National Final includes oral defense of the Research Report in English and will be reviewed by an international committee.
V. Intellectual Property
Original work and results are the intellectual belongings to the participants and this is respected by S.-T. Yau High School Science Award. The S.-T. Yau High School Science Award only reserves the first right of refusal on the works of award winners. Winners should approach the S.-T. Yau High School Science Award before they publish their works or derive any benefit from it. In addition, works of winners may be used in part or in full for the promotion of S.-T. Yau High School Science Award in future.
VI. Public Review
The S.-T. Yau High School Science Award is open to public review. Any organization or individual that objects to the qualifications of the teams entering the National Final may file a complaint, along with supporting evidence and contact information, to the Organizing Committee before the end of the seven-day period of public review. After receiving the complaint, the Organizing Committee will invite a team of experts to review the case. The Organizing Committee solemnly promises that information of the objecting organizations and/or individuals will remain confidential.
Ⅶ. Disclaimer
The Organizing Committee of the S.-T. Yau High School Science Award reserves the right to interpret the above entry guidelines.
This Award aims at stimulating the interest and creativity of high school students in conducting fundamental science research, discovering and cultivating young scientific talents, and enhancing the connection between secondary education and higher education. The results of the Award is not directly associated with the future enrollment in higher education of any participating individuals.