Regeneron Science Talent Search
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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 went on to receive Nobel Prizes, two earned the Fields Medal, eleven have been awarded the National Medal of Science, eighteen received MacArthur Fellowships; three have won the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research; five have won a Breakthrough Prize; 43 have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences; and eleven have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering.[7]
In 2020, due to the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic, Society for Science & The Public and Regeneron held the finalist week as a virtual competition in lieu of traveling to Washington D.C. [8]
Competition[]
Entrants to the competition conduct original research—sometimes at home and sometimes by "working with leading research teams at universities, hospitals and private laboratories."[1] 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.
Award | Prize |
---|---|
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 |
40 Finalists | $25,000 |
300 Semifinalists | $2,000 |
Each year, approximately 1,800 papers are submitted. The top 300 applicants are announced in mid-January and since 2017 each semifinalist and their school receives $2,000 from the title sponsor.[10] In late January, the 40 Finalists (the award winners) are informed. In March, the Finalists are flown to Washington, D.C. where they are interviewed for the top ten spots, which have awards up to $250,000 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). All Finalists receive awards of at least $25,000.[9]
Demography[]
Since the beginning of the competition, students from New York have done very well in the Science Talent Search, although there have been finalists from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Certain high schools have been particularly successful at placing semifinalists and finalists in the Science Talent Search.
Top states[]
New York has had by far the most finalists in the competition, followed by California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Florida, Virginia, Massachusetts, Texas, and Ohio. [11][12][13][14][15]
Top states for finalists (1942–2021) | |
---|---|
State | Finalists |
New York | 1003 |
California | 299 |
Illinois | 173 |
Pennsylvania | 125 |
Maryland | 124 |
New Jersey | 121 |
Florida | 115 |
Virginia | 110 |
Massachusetts | 102 |
Texas | 98 |
Ohio | 91 |
showFinalists by state (1942–2021) |
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Leading high schools in recent era[]
Reliable online records of the high schools attended by semifinalists and finalists are only available since 1999, when Intel took over sponsorship of the Science Talent Search, although there are newspaper articles naming the finalists from earlier years.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] A small group of schools have produced a large number of the recent semifinalists and finalists.[28]
Four specialized STEM schools top the list, averaging more than 8 semifinalists per year: Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD, Stuyvesant High School in New York, NY, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, VA, and Bronx High School of Science in Bronx, NY. Many winners also come from the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science in Denton, TX, the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham, NC, the Bergen County Academies in Hackensack, NJ, and the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora, IL. Among high schools without selective admissions, New York public schools top the list, with Ward Melville High School in East Sautuket, Byram Hills High School in Armonk, Paul D. Schreiber High School in Port Washington, and Jericho High School in Jericho among the top ten. Only one private school, The Harker School in San Jose, CA, is among the top schools.[11][29][30][31][12][32][13][33][14][34][15]
School | City | State | Semi-finalists | Finalists |
---|---|---|---|---|
Montgomery Blair High School | Silver Spring | MD | 229 | 44 |
Bronx High School of Science | New York | NY | 199 | 12 |
Stuyvesant High School | New York | NY | 193 | 22 |
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology | Alexandria | VA | 183 | 17 |
Ward Melville High School | East Setauket | NY | 144 | 12 |
Byram Hills High School | Armonk | NY | 110 | 18 |
Jericho High School | Jericho | NY | 105 | 13 |
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics | Durham | NC | 104 | 3 |
Bergen County Academies | Hackensack | NJ | 101 | 12 |
Paul D. Schreiber High School | Port Washington | NY | 99 | 6 |
The Harker School | San Jose | CA | 98 | 19 |
Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science | Denton | TX | 98 | 12 |
Ossining High School | Ossining | NY | 83 | 6 |
Roslyn High School | Roslyn | NY | 72 | 8 |
Great Neck North High School | Great Neck | NY | 72 | 7 |
Great Neck South High School | Great Neck | NY | 54 | 5 |
John F. Kennedy High School | Bellmore | NY | 56 | 6 |
Midwood High School | Brooklyn | NY | 50 | 5 |
Lawrence High School | Cedarhurst | NY | 49 | 3 |
Illinois Math and Science Academy | Aurora | IL | 48 | 9 |
Lynbrook High School | San Jose | CA | 46 | 9 |
Hunter College High School | New York | NY | 45 | 5 |
Greenwich High School | Greenwich | CT | 42 | 8 |
showSemifinalists by school each year (1999–2021) |
---|
showFinalists by school each year (1989–2021) |
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List of prominent individuals who were past winners[]
Finalist[7] | Year | Placed[11] | High School | Notability |
---|---|---|---|---|
Robert Kraichnan | 1944 | 2nd boy | National Academy of Sciences | |
Ben Mottelson | 1944 | Finalist | Lyons Township High School | 1975 Nobel Prize in Physics |
Andrew Sessler | 1945 | Finalist | Forest Hills High School | National Academy of Sciences |
Gerald Edelman | 1946 | Semifinalist | John Adams High School | 1972 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
Leon Cooper | 1947 | Finalist | Bronx High School of Science | 1972 Nobel Prize in Physics |
Martin Karplus | 1947 | Top Boy | Newton High School | 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
Ronald Breslow | 1948 | Finalist | 1991 National Medal of Science | |
R. Stephen Berry | 1948 | Finalist | East High School | 1983 MacArthur Fellowship, National Academy of Sciences |
Walter Gilbert | 1949 | Finalist | Sidwell Friends School | 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
Sheldon Glashow | 1950 | Finalist | Bronx High School of Science | 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics |
Paul Cohen | 1950 | Finalist | Stuyvesant High School | 1966 Fields Medal |
John L. Hall | 1952 | Semifinalist | South High School | 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics |
David Mumford | 1953 | Finalist | Phillips Exeter Academy | 1974 Fields Medal |
Joanna Russ | 1953 | Top Ten | William Howard Taft High School | Hugo and Nebula Awards, author of The Female Man |
Marcian Hoff | 1954 | Top Ten | Churchville-Chili Senior High School | 2009 National Medal of Technology and Innovation |
Roald Hoffmann | 1955 | Finalist | Stuyvesant High School | 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
Leroy Hood | 1956 | Finalist | Shelby High School | 2011 National Medal of Science |
Donald Knuth | 1956 | Semifinalist[35] | Milwaukee Lutheran High School | 1974 Turing Award, 1979 National Medal of Science |
Kip Thorne | 1958 | Semifinalist | Logan High School | 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics |
Robert Axelrod | 1961 | Finalist | Evanston Township High School | 2012 National Medal of Science |
Gary A. Wegner | 1963 | Finalist | Bothell High School | Humboldt Prize |
Paul L. Modrich | 1964 | Semifinalist | Raton High School | 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
Ray Kurzweil | 1965 | Finalist | Martin Van Buren High School | 1999 National Medal of Technology and Innovation |
Frank Wilczek | 1967 | Finalist | Martin Van Buren High School | 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics |
Alvin Roth | 1968 | Semifinalist | Martin Van Buren High School | 2012 Nobel Prize in Economics |
Roger Y. Tsien | 1968 | 1st Place | Livingston High School | 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
Thomas Felix Rosenbaum | 1973 | Finalist | Forest Hills High School | President, California Institute of Technology |
Eric Lander | 1974 | 1st Place | Stuyvesant High School | 2014 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences |
F. Thomson Leighton | 1974 | 2nd Place | Stuyvesant High School | National Academy of Sciences, Akamai Technologies co-founder and CEO |
Paul Zeitz | 1975 | 1st Place | Stuyvesant High School | 1974 USAMO Winner |
George Yancopoulos | 1976 | Top Ten | Bronx High School of Science | National Academy of Sciences, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals co-founder and CSO |
Richard H. Ebright | 1977 | Finalist | Muhlenberg High School | American Academy of Arts and Sciences |
Ron Unz | 1979 | 1st Place | North Hollywood High School | Wall Street Analytics founder; political activist |
Lisa Randall | 1980 | 1st Place | Stuyvesant High School | National Academy of Sciences |
Brian Greene | 1980 | Finalist | Stuyvesant High School | The Elegant Universe author |
Noam Elkies | 1982 | Finalist | Stuyvesant High School | 2004 Levi L. Conant Prize |
Wendy Chung | 1986 | 1st Place | Miami Killian High School | American Academy of Pediatrics Young Investigator Award |
Jordan Ellenberg | 1989 | 2nd Place | Winston Churchill High School | American Mathematical Society Fellow |
Matthew Headrick | 1990 | 1st Place | University of Chicago Laboratory Schools | High h-index/highly cited physicist |
Maneesh Agrawala | 1990 | Finalist | Montgomery Blair High School | 2009 MacArthur Fellowship |
Christopher Bouton | 1992 | Finalist | Saint Ann's School (Brooklyn) | Entagen founder and CEO |
Wei-Hwa Huang | 1993 | 6th Place | Montgomery Blair High School | World Puzzle Champion 1995, 1997-1999 |
Robert Sarvis | 1994 | 4th Place | Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology | Libertarian politician |
Daniel Biss | 1995 | Finalist | Bloomington North High School | Illinois state senator |
Jacob Lurie | 1996 | 1st Place | Montgomery Blair High School | 2014 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics |
Keith Winstein | 1999 | 4th Place | Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy | 2014 SIGCOMM Doctoral Dissertation Award |
Feng Zhang | 2000 | 3rd Place | Theodore Roosevelt High School | 2014 NSF Alan T. Waterman Award |
Mariangela Lisanti | 2001 | 1st Place | Staples High School | 2013 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists |
Tianhui Michael Li | 2003 | 2nd Place | Oregon Episcopal School | Marshall Scholar, Hertz Foundation Fellow, data scientist, founder and CEO of The Data Incubator[36] |
See also[]
The Society for Science also administers two other international science competitions:
- The International Science and Engineering Fair
- The Broadcom MASTERS for middles school students.[37]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b "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.
- ^ Hardy, Quentin (Sep 9, 2015). "Intel to End Sponsorship of Science Talent Search". The New York Times.
- ^ Ramírez, Eddy (February 1, 2008). "Stuyvesant High School Students Ace the Intel Competition". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
- ^ Huler, Scott (April 15, 1991). "Nurturing Science's Young Elite: Westinghouse Talent Search". The Scientist. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
- ^ "Intel Corp. To Sponsor Annual Science Contest". Education Weekly. 1 April 1998.
- ^ Pierson, Ransdell. "Biotech Regeneron replaces Intel as sponsor of Science Talent Search". www.reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Society Alumni Honors". Society for Science and the Public. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
- ^ https://www.societyforscience.org/blog/regeneron-sts-2020-will-go-virtual/
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Teen Scientist Researches New Approach to Neurological Damage; Wins Regeneron Science Talent Search 2017". Society for Science and the Public. 14 March 2017.
- ^ Hardy, Quentin (May 26, 2016). "Regeneron Pharmaceuticals to Sponsor Science Talent Search". New York Times. p. B2.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Science Talent Search Through the Years". Society for Science & the Public. 1942–2016. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Regeneron STS 2017 Finalists". Society for Science & the Public. 24 January 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Regeneron STS 2018 Finalists". Society for Science & the Public. 23 January 2018.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Regeneron STS 2019 Finalists". Society for Science & the Public. 23 January 2019.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "2020 Regeneron STS Finalists". Society for Science & the Public. 22 January 2020.
- ^ "40 Top High School Scientists Gather in Washington". Associated Press. Mar 4, 1989.
- ^ "NY Schools Lead Nation in Westinghouse Science Finalists". Associated Press. Jan 26, 1990.
- ^ "Minutes of the Board of Education" (PDF). Montgomery County Board of Education. May 8, 1990.
- ^ Nieves, Evelyn (Jan 25, 1991). "50 Westinghouse Years, 50 New York Triumphs". The New York Times.
- ^ Berger, Joseph (Jan 29, 1992). "Stuyvesant Shines Again in Westinghouse Awards". The New York Times.
- ^ "In a Minority District in Maryland, A Magnet School That Really Draws". The New York Times. Mar 3, 1993.
- ^ "Westinghouse Science Contest Honors 14 New York Students". The New York Times. Jan 24, 1994.
- ^ "L.I. Youth Among Winners In National Science Contest". The New York Times. Mar 14, 1995.
- ^ "Westinghouse Science Talent Search Finalists Arrive in Washington". PR Newswire Association. Mar 8, 1995.
- ^ "Science talent search names 40 finalists". Science Service. Jan 27, 1996.
- ^ "Finalists From the New York Area". The New York Times. Jan 28, 1997.
- ^ "The 40 Westinghouse Science Talent Search Finalists". The New York Times. Jan 27, 1998.
- ^ Schank, Hana (12 March 2015). "Science Fairs Aren't So Fair". The Atlantic.
- ^ "Science Talent Search Past Results". Internet Wayback Machine: Society for Science & the Public. 1999–2007. Archived from the original on November 2, 2007.
- ^ "Past STS Results". Internet Wayback Machine: Society for Science & the Public. 2004–2009. Archived from the original on May 1, 2011.
- ^ "Regeneron STS 2017 Scholars". Society for Science & the Public. 2017. Retrieved 4 Jan 2017.
- ^ "Regeneron STS 2018 Scholars". Society for Science & the Public. 9 Jan 2018.
- ^ "Regeneron STS 2019 Scholars". Society for Science & the Public. 9 Jan 2019.
- ^ "2020 Regeneron STS Scholars". Society for Science & the Public. 8 Jan 2020.
- ^ "The Winners and Honorable Mentions in the 15th Annual Science Talent Search", p. 10
- ^ "Alumni to watch: Michael Li & The Data Incubator".
- ^ "Broadcom MASTERS". Society for Science and the Public. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
External links[]
- Intel x86 microprocessors
- Science competitions
- Society for Science & the Public
- Awards established in 1942
- Intel
- 1942 establishments in the United States
- Student awards