FAIR ELIGIBILITY
All students less than 20 years old who attend school in Charlotte, Collier, or Lee Counties in Grades K–12 are eligible to enter the Thomas A. Edison Festival of Light Regional Inventors Fair. Middle and High School students are also eligible to dual enroll in both Science and Inventors Fairs so long as the project meets rules and guidelines of both Fairs.
Home school students who attend home school programs in Charlotte or Lee Counties are eligible to enter, even if they participate in online classes from other locales. To be eligible for Regional Competition, home schooled students must compete at a school level Fair. For up-to-date information on how to enter a school level competition go to the Contact Us link to direct inquiries to the appropriate Fair administrators at: science@ edisonfairs.org or inventors@edisonfairs.org
A student may participate in only one project per event.
Individual entries—A student may enter one project per eligible Fair.
Team entries:
- Science Fair—A team of two or three students may enter one team project per eligible Fair.
- Inventors Fair – Individual participation is recommended. Teams are allowed but only one prize or award is given to a winning entry.
- Co-Registered (dual enrolled) Science Fair Team Entries in the Inventors Fair will be awarded by Inventor Fair guidelines.
All projects will be judged for merit using the same criteria regardless of the number of individuals preparing the project.
Best Practice for Student Researchers and Inventors
DISCLAIMER: Use of a Non-School Research Site or Regulated Research Institute
The student researcher and/or inventor is responsible for all aspects of the research/invention project including enlisting the aid of any required supervisory adults or mentors, obtaining necessary approvals to complete project activities at a research site, following the Rules & Guidelines of the Edison Fairs and subsequent competitions (State Science Fair, International Science Fair, Henry Ford National Invention Convention,etc.), and performing the experimentation, engineering, data analysis, etc..
Scientific or invention fraud and misconduct are not condoned at any level of research or competition. This includes plagiarism, forgery, use or presentation of other researcher’s work as one’s own, and fabrication of data. This applies to knowingly infringe on the intellectual property rights of others. TAERSIF reserves the right to revoke recognition of a project subsequently found to have been fraudulent. Students who have their projects removed from competition for fraud or misconduct may not enter the Edison Fairs Program the following year. Fraudulent projects will fail to qualify for competition in the State Science and Engineering Fair (SSEF) of Florida and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), or the Henry Ford National Invention Convention. The Florida Foundation for Future Scientists, Inc. (FFFS) and Society for Science & the Public (SSP) reserves the right to revoke recognition of a project subsequently found to have been fraudulent.