Project Category Description & Selection Tips

Twenty-two project categories! 

Carefully consider the category when you register your project.  Many projects could easily fit into more than one project category.  The Washington State Science and Engineering Fair (WSSEF) aligns project categories and is affiliated with the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).

You should carefully consider which category best describes your project because your judges will be assigned based on their expertise in your chosen category.  If the project could be in multiple categories, it is best to select the primary category.

Ask yourself the following questions to help in the selection of a category:

  1.  Who will be the most qualified to judge my project?  What area of expertise is the most important for the judge to have?  For example, a medical background or an engineering background?
  2. What is the emphasis of my project?  What characteristic of my project is the most innovative, unique or important?  For example, is it the application in medicine or the engineering of the machine?  Is it inserting the proper gene or the method of computer mapping to demonstrate the results?

Click on the 22 categories to review detailed definitions.

To view all categories on the same page, please click here.

Animal Sciences (ANIM)
Behavioral and Social Sciences (BEHA)
Biochemistry (BCHM)
Biomedical and Health Sciences (BMED)
Biomedical Engineering (ENBM)
Cellular and Molecular Biology (CELL)
Chemistry (CHEM)
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (CBIO)
Earth and Environmental Sciences (EAEV)
Embedded Systems (EBED)
Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design (EGSD)
Engineering Technology: Statics and Dynamics (ETSD)
Environmental Engineering (ENEV)
Materials Science (MATS)
Mathematics (MATH)
Microbiology (MCRO)
Physics and Astronomy (PHYS)
Plant Sciences (PLNT)
Robotics and Intelligent Machines (ROBO)
Systems Software (SOFT)
Technology Enhances the Arts (TECA)
Translational Medical Science (TMED)