Piedmont Regional Science Fair

We have made some adjustments to the regional fair this year based on feedback from school Science Fair Coordinators, teachers, family members, and judges. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences and ideas.

• Elementary Projects will be judged. A Rubric will be used to determine the level of award each project earns.
• Elementary students will be able to choose whether they would like to talk to a judge about their project. This will be indicated during registration.
• Elementary students and family members will have the opportunity to choose from a variety of STEM activities available during the Showcase. This will be done in their own time.
• Photographs of participants will be taken during the Elementary Showcase. The schedule for when each school can have their representatives’ photograph taken will be sent to Science Fair Coordinators ahead of time and posted at the regional science fair.

The Elementary Showcase will still be held separately from the Middle School and High School Fair. Both events will be held at the University Readiness Center on the USC Upstate campus. Map to URC

The Awards Ceremony for the Middle/High School Fair will be held in the Campus Life Center Ballroom on the USC Upstate Campus. Map to CLC Ballroom

• Friday, March 27, 2026:
  • Piedmont Region III Elementary Science Fair Projects Exhibition
  • 1st-5th grade
• Saturday, March 28, 2026
  • Piedmont Region III Junior and Senior Division Science Fair
  • 6th-12th grade

The Elementary Exhibition will serve to recognize winning projects from students’ school fairs. This event will be held on the evening of Friday, March 27th. Students will set up their winning projects. All these students and their winning projects will be recognized for their excellent work making it to the regional fair with a certificate and a picture. Projects will be judged based on a Rubric and awarded a level of achievement at the regional fair. Students will choose whether or not they would like to talk to the judge about their project. Students will have access to a variety of STEM activities which they can do at their own pace.

The Junior and Senior Divisions of the regional fair will be held all day on Saturday, March 28th. This way we can combine the judging and the awards ceremony. Students will set up their projects in the morning. They can then mingle and explore different projects. High school students will stand by their projects for the interview portion of judging. Students will be dismissed to explore campus and find lunch before returning that afternoon for the awards ceremony.

The rules and overall format of the posters will remain the same. Projects that use human subjects, biological materials, or potentially harmful materials will still need to provide the appropriate paperwork for SRC approval (Grades 5 – 12). ISEF created a really nice rules wizard to help students determine what they need to do before they submit their paperwork to the SRC. https://ruleswizard.societyforscience.org/

School Science Fair Coordinators, please use this link to identify if your school will be participating in 2026: Participation

Registration will be:

• February 23^rd – 27^th for 9^th-12^th grade projects.
• March 16^th – 20^th for 1^st-8^th grade projects. All projects must be submitted by 5pm on March 20th, 2026.

The Piedmont Region III Science Fair is hosted annually by USC Upstate. The main sponsor of the Piedmont Region III Science Fair is the Rotary Club of Spartanburg. This fair is an ISEF-affiliated fair and serves students from grades 1-12 in the South Carolina counties of Chester, Cherokee, Lancaster, Spartanburg, Union, and York.