JSHS Scholarships

Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) is a Department of Defense sponsored STEM program (U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense and the U.S. Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force) for high school students enrolled in grades 9-12 who engage in research investigations in the sciences, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM). Students are invited to compete in an affiliated JSHS regional symposium and may win the opportunity to advance to the National JSHS.

Eligibility Rules: Regional and National Symposia

1. Students may compete in only one regional symposium. The address of the student’s school/organization determines the region.
2. Citizenship. Students must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States or U.S. territory to participate in JSHS.
3. Continuation projects. Students may continue a research investigation; however, a study which merely adds data from a previous year’s project is not considered a strong continuation project. If a continuation project is submitted, the student must discuss how the project was expanded (e.g., methodology, new variables); discuss any revisions in experimentation and present new data.
4. Team projects. A student may present a report on work done as part of a class project, or as a science fair project, or summer research project. If a presenter is part of a larger group, the presentation should focus on the coordinated efforts of all team members and properly acknowledge the contributions of the team (students, mentors, and/or teachers). A team leader should be selected to register and present the results of the group work. The research may not be presented by any other member of the team. The judging criteria used to judge all JSHS presentations remains the same.
5. Team projects awards. If an individual presenter from a group project is selected as a Regional finalist and is invited to present at the National JSHS, the same presenter must present at the National Symposium. Scholarships and other awards available at Regional and National Symposia are awarded to the presenter.
6. Projects that are demonstrations, ‘library’ research or informational projects are not appropriate for JSHS.
7. The date/time for the student’s presentation is determined by regional and national symposia leadership. A student must be present for the assigned time or risk disqualification.

Eight Categories of Regional and National Symposia

At regional and National Symposia, student research presentations will be organized into eight categories. Categories are assigned based upon a review of all abstracts and the area of research suggested by the student. Student presenters must state on the abstract the major category and the sub-category of their research.

Environmental Science

Environmental Science/Engineering: Bioremediation, Ecosystems management, Environmental engineering, Land Resource Management, Pollution, toxicity; impact upon ecosystem

Biomedical Sciences

Biomedical medicine, Microbiology, Cellular/Molecular Biology, Genetics, Immunology, Pharmacology, Virology

Life & Behavioral Sciences

Developmental Biology, Plant Physiology, Population Genetics, General Biochemistry, Microbiology, Behavioral Sciences

Medicine & Health

Biochemistry, Bioengineering, Disease Diagnosis and Treatment, Epidemiology, Immunology, Neuroscience, Physiology, Pathology

Engineering & Technology

Aerospace, Aerodynamics, Electrical Engineering, Energy – Solar, Vehicle Development, Devices, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics

Mathematics & Computer Science

Probability and Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science – Algorithms, Databases, Networking, Computer Engineering

Physical Sciences

Astronomy, Physics-theoretical, Physics-Solid state, Acoustics, Optics, Thermodynamics, Particle Physics, Quantum Physics, Nuclear; Internet of Things–network of physical objects or “things” embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and network connectivity

Chemistry

Physical Chemistry, Materials, Alternative Fuels, Organic Chemistry (possibly in life science), Chemical Engineering, Earth Science, Geochemistry, Energy–Alternative Fuels, Material Science