The Regeneron Science Talent Search, known from its establishment in 1942 to 1998 as the Westinghouse Science Talent Search and from 1999 to 2016 as the Intel Science Talent Search, is a research-based science competition in the United States for high school seniors hosted by the Society for Science. It has been referred to as "the nation's oldest and most prestigious" science competition and several of its alumni have gone on to be scientists prominent in their fields. In his speech at the dinner honoring the 1991 winners, President George H. W. Bush called the competition the "Super Bowl of science."
History While attending the 1939 New York World's Fair, Society for Science director Watson Davis met Edward Pendray, a Westinghouse Electric Corporation executive. Together, they brainstormed ways to encourage youth to go into scientific fields and expand science fair competitions to the national level, and created the Westinghouse Science Talent Search (Westinghouse STS). The first competition was held in 1942, won by Paul Teschan of Shorewood, Wisconsin and Marina Meyers of Farmingdale, New York. Throughout an era of sexism in academia, the competition has always allowed male and female students to compete, though awards were given separately until 1949.
In 1998, Intel outbid several other potential sponsors and became the competition's sponsor; the name of the competition was changed from the Westinghouse Science Talent Search to the Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS). In May 2016, it was announced that Regeneron Pharmaceuticals would be the new title sponsor. Since its founding, 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 to later receive MacArthur Fellowships (20 alumni), Nobel Prizes (13 alumni), National Medals of Science (eleven alumni), the Breakthrough Prize (seven alumni), the Fields Medal (two alumni), the Lasker Award (two alumni) and numerous other accolades. Multiple alumni were later elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering, and many have served in various government positions and as professors at top universities. Actress Natalie Portman was a semifinalist in 1998 and 1947 participant Leon Cooper's name was borrowed for Sheldon Cooper, a character on The Big Bang Theory who is portrayed as being a science prodigy.
Competition Entrants to the competition conduct original research — sometimes at home and sometimes by working with research teams at universities, hospitals and private laboratories. The selection process is highly competitive, and a research paper, letters of recommendation, essays, test scores, extracurricular activities, and high school transcripts are factored in the selection of finalists and winners.
Prizes Each year, approximately 2,000 projects are submitted. The top 300 scholars (previously called semifinalists or honorable mentions) are announced in mid-January and each receive $2,000. In addition to the scholar award prize money, each scholar's school receives an award of $2,000 from the title sponsor for each scholar named. In late January, the top 40 finalists (the award winners) are announced. In March, finalists are flown to Washington, D.C., for a week, where they are interviewed by a judging panel about their projects and to assess their STEM knowledge, creativity and problem-solving abilities. Past judges have included Glenn T. Seaborg and Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr., both Nobel laurates. The top 40 finalists each receive prizes starting at $25,000 and the winners are announced at an awards ceremony. + Prizes (as of 2023) Award Prize 1st place $250,000 2nd place $175,000 3rd place $150,000 4th place $100,000 5th place $90,000 6th place $80,000 7th place $70,000 8th place $60,000 9th place $50,000 10th place $40,000 30 finalists $25,000 300 scholars $2,000
Demography The Science Talent Search is open to high school seniors living in the United States, and US citizens living abroad. 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. 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. Top states for finalists State Total finalists Westinghouse (1942–1998) Intel (1999–2016) Regeneron (2017–2026) New York 1043 752 215 76 California 339 163 103 73 Illinois 174 149 24 1 Pennsylvania 134 101 18 15 New Jersey 132 87 24 21 Maryland 127 65 45 17 Florida 125 84 24 16 Virginia 121 82 16 23 Texas 111 54 32 25 Massachusetts 110 68 24 18 Ohio 93 78 10 5 Oregon 61 30 20 11 Wisconsin 60 48 9 3 Michigan 59 37 15 7 Connecticut 57 30 18 9 Indiana 56 43 9 4