The top delegations attach computing to a physical artefact. Singapore (36 projects in 2021 to 2026, 69.4% grand rate) enters Materials Science 7 and Robotics 6 most often; Canada (84, 52.4%) enters Biomedical Engineering 12 and Robotics 11. Thailand (89, 47.2%) is 87% teams and wins in life science, led by Animal Sciences 23. No top delegation leads with pure software; Korea (160, 18.1%) leads with Systems Software 24. Inside the United States the spread is just as wide: California 48.3%, New Jersey 44.0%, Washington 42.2%, New York 40.5%, against Florida 26.1%, Utah 13.5% and Louisiana 10.8%.
What the top delegations enter (2021 to 2026)
Thin lines mark the 95% confidence interval; smaller samples give longer lines.
| Fair country | Projects | Grand (95% CI) | Team share | Computing share | Bio/Med share | AI mention | Baseline comparison | 3+ numbers | Top categories |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singapore | 36 | 69.4% (95% CI 53 to 82) | 52.8% | 22.2% | 33.3% | 30.6% | 25.0% | 16.7% | Materials Science 7; Robotics and Intelligent Machines 6; Computational Biology and Bioinformatics 3 |
| Canada | 84 | 52.4% (95% CI 42 to 63) | 11.9% | 26.2% | 36.9% | 26.2% | 4.8% | 22.6% | Biomedical Engineering 12; Robotics and Intelligent Machines 11; Earth and Environmental Sciences 9 |
| Germany | 41 | 46.3% (95% CI 32 to 61) | 48.8% | 12.2% | 34.1% | 9.8% | 4.9% | 4.9% | Physics and Astronomy 8; Engineering Technology: Statics & Dynamics 4; Biochemistry 3 |
| Australia | 67 | 41.8% (95% CI 31 to 54) | 7.5% | 13.4% | 26.9% | 13.4% | 4.5% | 22.4% | Earth and Environmental Sciences 9; Physics and Astronomy 9; Chemistry 7 |
| Thailand | 89 | 47.2% (95% CI 37 to 57) | 86.5% | 6.7% | 58.4% | 32.6% | 12.4% | 37.1% | Animal Sciences 23; Physics and Astronomy 10; Translational Medical Science 8 |
| India | 119 | 34.5% (95% CI 27 to 43) | 21.0% | 10.1% | 49.6% | 40.3% | 13.4% | 25.2% | Biomedical Engineering 14; Translational Medical Science 13; Computational Biology and Bioinformatics 9 |
| China | 186 | 33.3% (95% CI 27 to 40) | 9.7% | 21.0% | 29.6% | 23.1% | 10.8% | 14.0% | Engineering Technology: Statics & Dynamics 20; Physics and Astronomy 18; Robotics and Intelligent Machines 17 |
| China, Hong Kong Speci | 28 | 28.6% (95% CI 15 to 47) | 53.6% | 21.4% | 39.3% | 14.3% | 7.1% | 21.4% | Biomedical Engineering 7; Robotics and Intelligent Machines 4; Biomedical and Health Sciences 3 |
| Japan | 90 | 23.3% (95% CI 16 to 33) | 35.6% | 7.8% | 30.0% | 10.0% | 4.4% | 12.2% | Physics and Astronomy 17; Chemistry 16; Animal Sciences 15 |
| South Korea | 160 | 18.1% (95% CI 13 to 25) | 68.8% | 33.8% | 18.1% | 23.1% | 9.4% | 16.2% | Systems Software 24; Physics and Astronomy 15; Environmental Engineering 13 |
| United States of Ameri | 5515 | 28.2% (95% CI 27 to 29) | 11.4% | 11.6% | 47.4% | 22.7% | 10.7% | 22.0% | Earth and Environmental Sciences 403; Biomedical and Health Sciences 381; Computational Biology and Bioinformatics 368 |
Thirteen-year totals (2014 to 2026)
In order of volume: United States 11,705 projects at 26.9%, China 379 at 27.2%, Saudi Arabia 345 at 35.4%, South Korea 294 at 15.8%, Brazil 243 at 19.0%, India 234 at 32.7%, Russia 192 at 14.4%, Canada 189 at 54.1%, Japan 182 at 22.5%, Thailand 173 at 34.8%, Turkey 156 at 20.8%, Egypt 146 at 18.5%, Australia 142 at 38.3%, Taiwan 134 at 42.7%, Germany 108 at 49.0%, Vietnam 91 at 25.3%, Malaysia 89 at 26.2%, Mexico 82 at 7.3%, Singapore 72 at 61.1%, Hong Kong 68 at 28.6%, Indonesia 67 at 7.6%, Macao 58 at 22.6%, Philippines 56 at 14.0%, Kazakhstan 33 at 6.5%. Of the 90 Top Awards, the United States took 64 and China 6; Germany, Hong Kong, Slovakia, Ireland and Thailand took 2 each; Japan, Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia, India, Turkey, Malaysia, Bulgaria, Belgium and Brazil 1 each; Korea none.
Team-heavy delegations (Mexico, Vietnam, Indonesia, Egypt, Korea) cluster at the bottom, but Thailand and Singapore show that teams can win. Solo and team rates by country are on the solo vs team page.
Rates use judged years only (2020 excluded); thin lines are 95% confidence intervals. Taiwan combines the fairs registered as Chinese Taipei and Taiwan.
US states (for students at US or US-curriculum schools)
Students at American or US-curriculum schools qualify through a state or regional fair, and the states differ. Grand-award rates 2021 to 2026: California 48.3% (402 projects), New Jersey 44.0%, Washington 42.2%, New York 40.5% (477), Virginia 36.5%, Oregon 33.8%, Pennsylvania 32.5%, Texas 31.2% (414), Florida 26.1% (522, the largest sender), Arizona 25.3%, Georgia 17.8%, Utah 13.5%, Louisiana 10.8%. States with a high AI share (California 40%, Washington 41%, Virginia 31%) also have the highest award rates.
Thin lines mark the 95% confidence interval; smaller samples give longer lines.
Show the full table (20 rows)
| State | Projects | Grand (95% CI) | AI mention |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 522 | 26.1% (95% CI 22 to 30) | 19.5% |
| New York | 477 | 40.5% (95% CI 36 to 45) | 21.0% |
| Texas | 414 | 31.2% (95% CI 27 to 36) | 25.4% |
| California | 402 | 48.3% (95% CI 43 to 53) | 40.3% |
| Virginia | 241 | 36.5% (95% CI 31 to 43) | 31.1% |
| Georgia | 180 | 17.8% (95% CI 13 to 24) | 13.3% |
| Utah | 155 | 13.5% (95% CI 9 to 20) | 7.1% |
| Oregon | 148 | 33.8% (95% CI 27 to 42) | 34.5% |
| Arizona | 146 | 25.3% (95% CI 19 to 33) | 20.5% |
| Hawaii | 140 | 20.7% (95% CI 15 to 28) | 8.6% |
| Minnesota | 134 | 20.1% (95% CI 14 to 28) | 15.7% |
| Washington | 128 | 42.2% (95% CI 34 to 51) | 41.4% |
| Pennsylvania | 126 | 32.5% (95% CI 25 to 41) | 23.8% |
| Arkansas | 120 | 19.2% (95% CI 13 to 27) | 19.2% |
| Kentucky | 117 | 31.6% (95% CI 24 to 41) | 29.9% |
| Ohio | 116 | 20.7% (95% CI 14 to 29) | 16.4% |
| Indiana | 115 | 19.1% (95% CI 13 to 27) | 26.1% |
| Colorado | 114 | 22.8% (95% CI 16 to 31) | 13.2% |
| Louisiana | 111 | 10.8% (95% CI 6 to 18) | 16.2% |
| New Jersey | 109 | 44.0% (95% CI 35 to 53) | 31.2% |
Frequently asked questions
Data and method
Two public sources. From the Society for Science abstract database (abstracts.societyforscience.org) we compiled every ISEF finalist project from 2014 to 2026: 17,565 projects with title, category, fair country, awards and full abstract. From the isef.net project library we took the award-tier flags for the 8,134 ISEF projects of 2021 to 2026 and joined them to the abstracts by year and booth id. Compiled on 2026-10-11.
A grand award means a First to Fourth Award or Best of Category, roughly the top 27% of each category. A special award is given by a sponsoring organization with its own judges. ISEF 2020 was held without judging and is excluded from every rate. The abstract database carries no 2025 awards and misses most Materials Science grand awards after 2017, so award flags for 2021 to 2026 combine both sources. An AI mention means the title or abstract contains a machine-learning term; it does not mean the project is about AI. All numbers are correlations, and Korean per-category figures rest on 2 to 24 projects, so read them as direction rather than precision.
Sources
The figures on this page are category-level base rates compiled from public ISEF results. They do not predict or promise any student's award, selection or admission. CIT does not guarantee awards, selection or admission.
ISEF data series
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