Regeneron Science Talent Search
CountryUnited States
Websitehttp://www.societyforscience.org/sts Edit this on Wikidata
The 2002 Intel Science Talent Search finalist banquet, held at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC, where the ten winners were announced and all 40 finalists were acknowledged

The Regeneron Science Talent Search, known for its first 57 years[1] as the Westinghouse Science Talent Search, and then as the Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS) from 1998 through 2016,[2] is a research-based science competition in the United States for high school seniors. It has been referred to as "the nation's oldest and most prestigious" [3] science competition. In his speech at the dinner honoring the 1991 Winners, President George H. W. Bush called the competition the "Super Bowl of science."[4]

History

The Society for Science began the competition in 1942 with Westinghouse Electric Corporation; for many years, the competition was known as the Westinghouse Science Talent Search. In 1998, Intel became the sponsor after it outbid several other companies.[5] In May 2016, it was announced that Regeneron Pharmaceuticals would be the new title sponsor.[6] Over the years, some 147,000 students have entered the competition. Over 22,000 have been named semifinalists and 2,920 have traveled to Washington, D.C., as contest finalists. Collectively, they have received millions of dollars in scholarships and gone on, in later years, to capture Nobel Prizes, Fields Medals, MacArthur Fellowships and numerous other accolades.[7]

Thirteen alumni of the Science Talent Search went on to receive Nobel Prizes, two earned the Fields Medal, eleven have been awarded the National Medal of Science, twenty received MacArthur Fellowships; three have won the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research; seven have won a Breakthrough Prize; and many have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.[7]

Competition

Entrants to the competition conduct original researchsometimes at home and sometimes by working with leading research teams at universities, hospitals and private laboratories.[8]) The selection process is highly competitive, and besides the research paper, letters of recommendation, essays, test scores, extracurricular activities, and high school transcripts may be factored in the selection of finalists and winners.

Awards (as of 2023[9])
AwardPrize
First place$250,000
Second place$175,000
Third place$150,000
Fourth place$100,000
Fifth place$90,000
Sixth place$80,000
Seventh place$70,000
Eighth place$60,000
Ninth place$50,000
Tenth place$40,000
30 finalists$25,000
300 semifinalists$2,000

Each year, approximately 2,000 projects are submitted. The top 300 STS Scholars are announced in mid-January and each receive $2,000. In addition to the scholar award money, each scholar’s school receives an award of $2,000 from the title sponsor for each scholar named.[10] In late January, the Top 40 Finalists (the award winners) are announced. In March, the Finalists are flown to Washington, D.C. for a week where they are interviewed by a judging panel about their projects, and to assess the breadth and depth of STEM knowledge, creativity and problem solving abilities. The judges have included Glenn T. Seaborg (Nobel Laureate with Edwin M. McMillan in Chemistry, 1951) and Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr. (Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1993). The Top 40 Finalists receive awards of at least $25,000 and the winners are announced at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.[11]

Demography

The Science Talent Search is open to high school seniors living in the United States.[12] Since the beginning of the competition, a large number of winners have come from New York, representing nearly one-third of the finalists in the years that Westinghouse sponsored the competition.[13] New York has continued to lead the states in finalists in more recent years, more closely followed by California, and with significant numbers of finalists from Maryland, Texas, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Florida, Virginia, and Illinois. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]

Top states for finalists
StateTotal finalistsWestinghouse (1942-1998)Intel (1999-2016)Regeneron (2017-2023)
New York102175221554
California31516310349
Illinois174149241
Pennsylvania128101189
Maryland124654514
New Jersey123872412
Florida120842412
Virginia115821617
Massachusetts105682413
Texas102543216
Ohio9178103
Wisconsin604893
Michigan5937157
Oregon5830208
Indiana564394
Connecticut5530187

Certain high schools have been particularly successful at placing semifinalists and finalists in the Science Talent Search.[21] From the early years of the competition, two specialized high schools in New York City dominated the competition: Bronx High School of Science and Stuyvesant High School.[22][23] In the 1980s and 1990s, other specialized STEM schools, including Virginia's Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and Maryland's Montgomery Blair High School, began to produce large numbers of finalists to rival the New York City schools.[24][25][26] Other New York schools, including Ward Melville High School in East Setauket and Byram Hills High School in Armonk, have also had notable success in the competition.[27][28]

List of prominent individuals who were past winners

Finalist[7]YearPlaced[13]High SchoolNotability
Evelyne Peace Tyner1942FinalistEnvironmentalist who conserved large areas of native prairie with a ecology centre named after her, awarded the LEED award.
Robert Kraichnan19442nd boyNational Academy of Sciences
Ben Mottelson1944FinalistLyons Township High School1975 Nobel Prize in Physics
Andrew Sessler1945Finalist Forest Hills High SchoolNational Academy of Sciences
Gerald Edelman1946SemifinalistJohn Adams High School1972 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Leon Cooper1947FinalistBronx High School of Science1972 Nobel Prize in Physics
Martin Karplus1947Top Boy Newton High School2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Ronald Breslow1948Finalist1991 National Medal of Science
R. Stephen Berry1948FinalistEast High School1983 MacArthur Fellowship, National Academy of Sciences
Walter Gilbert1949FinalistSidwell Friends School1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Sheldon Glashow1950FinalistBronx High School of Science1979 Nobel Prize in Physics
Paul Cohen1950FinalistStuyvesant High School1966 Fields Medal
John L. Hall1952SemifinalistSouth High School2005 Nobel Prize in Physics
David Mumford1953FinalistPhillips Exeter Academy1974 Fields Medal
Joanna Russ1953Top TenWilliam Howard Taft High SchoolHugo and Nebula Awards, author of The Female Man
Marcian Hoff1954Top Ten Churchville-Chili Senior High School2009 National Medal of Technology and Innovation
Roald Hoffmann1955FinalistStuyvesant High School1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Leroy Hood1956FinalistShelby High School2011 National Medal of Science
Donald Knuth1956Semifinalist[29]Milwaukee Lutheran High School1974 Turing Award, 1979 National Medal of Science
Kip Thorne1958SemifinalistLogan High School2017 Nobel Prize in Physics
Charles H. Bennett19604th PlaceCroton-Harmon High School2023 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
Robert Axelrod1961FinalistEvanston Township High School2012 National Medal of Science
Gary A. Wegner1963FinalistBothell High SchoolHumboldt Prize
Paul L. Modrich1964SemifinalistRaton High School2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Ray Kurzweil1965FinalistMartin Van Buren High School1999 National Medal of Technology and Innovation
Frank Wilczek1967FinalistMartin Van Buren High School2004 Nobel Prize in Physics
Alvin Roth1968SemifinalistMartin Van Buren High School2012 Nobel Prize in Economics
Roger Y. Tsien19681st Place Livingston High School2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Thomas Felix Rosenbaum1973Finalist Forest Hills High SchoolPresident, California Institute of Technology
Eric Lander19741st PlaceStuyvesant High School2014 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences
F. Thomson Leighton19742nd PlaceStuyvesant High SchoolNational Academy of Sciences, Akamai Technologies co-founder and CEO
Paul Zeitz19751st PlaceStuyvesant High School1974 USAMO Winner
George Yancopoulos1976Top TenBronx High School of ScienceNational Academy of Sciences, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals co-founder and CSO
Richard H. Ebright1977FinalistMuhlenberg High SchoolAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences
Ron Unz19791st PlaceNorth Hollywood High SchoolWall Street Analytics founder; political activist
Lisa Randall19801st PlaceStuyvesant High SchoolNational Academy of Sciences
Brian Greene1980FinalistStuyvesant High SchoolThe Elegant Universe author
Noam Elkies1982FinalistStuyvesant High School2004 Levi L. Conant Prize
Wendy Chung19861st PlaceMiami Killian High SchoolAmerican Academy of Pediatrics Young Investigator Award
Jordan Ellenberg19892nd PlaceWinston Churchill High School American Mathematical Society Fellow
Matthew Headrick19901st PlaceUniversity of Chicago Laboratory SchoolsHigh h-index/highly cited physicist
David R. Liu 1990 2nd Place Riverside Poly High School National Academy of Sciences
Maneesh Agrawala1990FinalistMontgomery Blair High School2009 MacArthur Fellowship
Christopher Bouton1992FinalistSaint Ann's School (Brooklyn)Entagen founder and CEO
Wei-Hwa Huang19936th PlaceMontgomery Blair High SchoolWorld Puzzle Champion 1995, 1997-1999
Robert Sarvis19944th PlaceThomas Jefferson High School for Science and TechnologyLibertarian politician
Daniel Biss1995FinalistBloomington North High SchoolMayor of Evanston, Illinois
Jacob Lurie19961st PlaceMontgomery Blair High School2014 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics
Bill Thies1997FinalistState College Area High School2016 MacArthur Fellowship
Keith Winstein19994th PlaceIllinois Mathematics and Science Academy2014 SIGCOMM Doctoral Dissertation Award
Feng Zhang20003rd PlaceTheodore Roosevelt High SchoolNational Academy of Sciences
Mariangela Lisanti20011st PlaceStaples High School2013 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists
Tianhui Michael Li20032nd PlaceOregon Episcopal SchoolMarshall Scholar, Hertz Foundation Fellow, data scientist, founder and CEO of The Data Incubator[30]

See also

References

  1. "Finalists Named in 57th Annual Westinghouse Science Talent Search" (Press release). PR Newswire. January 26, 1998. Archived from the original on May 28, 2011. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  2. Hardy, Quentin (Sep 9, 2015). "Intel to End Sponsorship of Science Talent Search". The New York Times.
  3. Ramírez, Eddy (February 1, 2008). "Stuyvesant High School Students Ace the Intel Competition". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
  4. Huler, Scott (1991-04-15). "Nurturing Science's Young Elite: Westinghouse Talent Search". The Scientist. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  5. "Intel Corp. To Sponsor Annual Science Contest". Education Weekly. 1 April 1998.
  6. Pierson, Ransdell (26 May 2016). "Biotech Regeneron replaces Intel as sponsor of Science Talent Search". www.reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 "Society Alumni Honors". Society for Science and the Public. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  8. "America's Top 300 Teen Scientists Selected for Achievements in STEM Innovation and Leadership in Nation's Oldest and Most Prestigious High School Competition". Society for Science. 13 September 2023.
  9. "Science Talent Search Awards". Society for Science. 13 September 2023.
  10. "Science Talent Search Awards".
  11. "Students Win More Than $1.8 Million at 2023 Regeneron Science Talent Search for Remarkable Scientific Research on RNA Molecule Structure, Media Bias, and Diagnostics for Pediatric Heart Disease". September 2023.
  12. "Frequently Asked Questions". Society for Science. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  13. 1 2 3 "Science Talent Search Alumni". Society for Science & the Public. 1942–2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  14. "Regeneron STS 2017 Finalists". Society for Science & the Public. 24 January 2017.
  15. "Regeneron STS 2018 Finalists". Society for Science & the Public. 23 January 2018.
  16. "Regeneron STS 2019 Finalists". Society for Science & the Public. 23 January 2019.
  17. "2020 Regeneron STS Finalists". Society for Science & the Public. 22 January 2020.
  18. "Regeneron Science Talent Search 2021 Finalists". Society for Science & the Public. 20 January 2021.
  19. "Regeneron Science Talent Search 2022 Finalists". Society for Science & the Public. 20 January 2022.
  20. "Regeneron Science Talent Search 2023 Finalists". Society for Science & the Public. 24 January 2023.
  21. Schank, Hana (12 March 2015). "Science Fairs Aren't So Fair". The Atlantic.
  22. Taffel, Alexander (1 May 1965). "Challenging the Gifted Bronx High School of Science". The Atlantic.
  23. Nieves, Evelyn (Jan 25, 1991). "50 Westinghouse Years, 50 New York Triumphs". The New York Times.
  24. "In a Minority District in Maryland, A Magnet School That Really Draws". The New York Times. Mar 3, 1993.
  25. Baker, Peter (18 January 1989). "Academic Contest Shows Winning's a Science at Jefferson High". Washington Post.
  26. Wray, Herbert (September 1999). "Secrets of One of America's Best High Schools". ASEE Prism. Archived from the original on 29 Aug 2004.
  27. Winerip, Michael (9 March 2005). "Want to Be an Intel Finalist? You Need the Right Mentor". The New York Times.
  28. Berger, Joseph (7 March 2007). "Intel Competition Is Where Science Rules and Research Is the Key". The New York Times.
  29. "The Winners and Honorable Mentions in the 15th Annual Science Talent Search", p. 10
  30. "Alumni to watch: Michael Li & The Data Incubator". 27 May 2016.
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