High School Research Symposium

The competition is open to students in grades 9 through 12 in Iowa and surrounding areas who are interested in presenting their original research and learning more about engaging in research.

Any students accepted to deliver an oral or poster presentation, and up to five student delegates (those attending but not presenting), may attend from each school. Interested teacher observers and delegates may register to attend here when registration becomes available in January.

Submit Your Completed Research Paper

Interested students must submit a research paper (be sure it meets the requirements outlined in the HSRS research application handbook) before the deadline. Judges will review research papers and select approximately 10 students for oral presentations and additional students for poster presentations as space allows. Starting in late October, research papers can be submitted at the research paper submission link.

See the HSRS handbook for specific requirements on the research paper, including all the sections below:

• A. Title Page
• B. Abstract
• C. Acknowledgement of major assistance received
• D. Use of non-human vertebrates or human subjects
• E. Table of contents
• F. Introduction
• G. Materials and methods
• H. Results
• I. Tables and Figures
• J. Statistical Analyses
  • Descriptive Statistics
  • Inferential Statistics
• K. Discussion
• L. Conclusion
• M. References/Works Cited (Appendix B)
• N. Appendix

• $4,000 first-year University of Iowa scholarship to first place
• $3,000 first-year University of Iowa scholarship to second place
• $2,000 first-year University of Iowa scholarship to third place

The poster presentation winner will receive the following:

• $1,000 first-year University of Iowa scholarship to first place poster winner

• Meet like-minded peers
• Boost your college application
• Hear nationally-renowned scientists speak on their work
• Improve your public speaking skills, whether delivering an oral presentation on stage or a poster presentation to a small audience
• Improve your organization and time-management skills
• Develop scientific research skills to ultimately prepare for undergraduate and graduate-level research pursuits