The 40 Intel STS 2007 Finalists onstage at the Awards Gala in Washington, DC.  The Intel Science Talent Search is a program of the Society for Science & the Public.

Since 1942, Society for Science & the Public has been in the business of making dreams come true through the Science Talent Search (STS). In 1998, Intel became the new sponsor of this nationwide competition: America's oldest and most highly regarded pre-college science contest.

Each year the Intel STS finds and encourages the nation’s most talented high school seniors, furthering their pursuit of research and careers in the science, math, engineering, and medicine disciplines. Over six decades, more than 120,000 students from American high schools in all 50 states and U.S. territories have completed independent research projects and submitted STS entries. Each completed entry consists of a written description of the student's independent research, plus a lengthy entry form that elicits evidence of the student excellence and accomplishments.

Over 2,600 STS Finalists have applied more than $3.8 million in scholarships to their college educations, and 18,000 semifinalists have received millions more in scholarships and financial assistance as a result of winning honors in the annual Science Talent Search.

Celebrating 60 years of Science – read a historical portrait of the Science Talent Search from 1942 to 2001 [35 Mb PDF]

SCIENCE TALENT SEARCH Alumni Honors [More Info]

Each year the annual STS caps generations of remarkable achievements. With amazing precision, STS judges have identified leading research scientists, mathematicians, and physicians while they were still in high school, years before their professional careers began. The result? More than 100 of the world's most coveted science and math honors have been won by alumni of this program.

• Six Finalists have won the Nobel Prize.
• Two have earned the Fields Medal, the Nobel equivalent in math.
• Three have been awarded National Medals of Science.
• Ten have won MacArthur Foundation Fellowships, the so-called "genius awards."
• 56 have been named Sloan Research Fellows.
• 30 have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
• Five have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

Statistics show that 95% of STS Finalists have pursued some branch of science as their major field of study. More than 70% have gone on to earn PhDs or MDs. Career choices are about evenly divided among the physical sciences, the biological sciences, and medicine. And more than half of STS Finalists have engaged in research or teaching at colleges and universities.

The Evaluation and Judging Process

STS entrants are evaluated by a dedicated panel of pre-eminent scientific professionals and are then judged by a board of 12 distinguished scientists from a variety of disciplines. Chairman of the judges is Dr. Andrew Yeager, affiliated with the Arizona Cancer Center and The University of Arizona.

• The top 300 entrants are selected as semifinalists in mid-January. Intel and Society for Science & the Public announce these students to college admission offices.
• In late January, 40 Finalists are selected from the 300 semifinalists to attend the Science Talent Institute. Their announcement is highly anticipated across the country.

The Science Talent Institute in Washington D.C.

In March the 40 Finalists travel to Washington, D.C., where they undergo final judging during the Science Talent Institute. On the basis of interviews and presentation on research, 10 top scholarship winners are selected. While in Washington, Finalists display their prize-winning exhibits at the prestigious National Academy of Sciences.  There they describe their research to thousands of visitors, many of them important figures in the governmental and scientific communities. Each year younger, highly motivated students who plan to enter the Intel Science Talent Search during their senior year are inspired at this public exhibition.Additionally, Finalists visit Washington's historic, scientific and cultural sights. Past winners have met with the President and First Lady, the Vice President and distinguished science advisers.

On the final evening, Finalists are honored at a black tie banquet ceremony announcing the top scholarship winners. Yet, what the students say they value most is the opportunity to meet and interact with each other, their scientific peers, often for the first time. For decades, friendships and professional associations made during the Science Talent Institute continue through college and beyond.