Guides · ISEF category
Chemistry
ISEF category CHEM · difficulty for high-school students: medium
Synthesis, characterization, and reactions of chemical compounds. Includes organic synthesis, materials chemistry, analytical chemistry, green chemistry, and electrochemistry.
How it's judged
ISEF scores 100 points across five criteria:
- Creative Ability: 30 pts
- Scientific Thought: 30 pts
- Thoroughness: 15 pts
- Skill: 15 pts
- Clarity: 10 pts
What wins
- Synthesis of novel organic compounds with biological activity testing
- Green chemistry: replacing hazardous reagents with sustainable alternatives
- Electrochemical studies of novel electrode materials for energy storage
- Supramolecular chemistry: self-assembling structures with tunable properties
- Computational chemistry: DFT calculations predicting reaction outcomes
Common mistakes
- Reporting synthesis yield without characterization data (NMR, IR, MS)
- Not running blank controls in colorimetric assays
- Ignoring purity of reagents in quantitative studies
- Using household chemicals and calling it 'green chemistry' without measuring toxicity metrics
What you'll need
Basic: analytical balance, glassware, hotplate, pH meter. Intermediate: spectrophotometer, melting point apparatus. Advanced: NMR, HPLC, GC-MS (university access required).
Ethics & approvals
Human-subjects (IRB) approval is usually not required for this category. Vertebrate-animal (IACUC) approval is usually not required.
The novelty bar
A new compound, a new synthetic route, or a new application for a known class of compounds. Testing whether household items contain a known substance is not competitive.
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