Scholarship Judge User Manual

Thank you for your interest in volunteering as a Scholarship Judge at the Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair (PRSEF).  The Carnegie Science Center and all of the PRSEF students appreciate your support as a judge and your school’s support. We couldn’t make this event happen without you! 

Scholarship Judge Role

Scholarship Judges represent local colleges and universities who have committed to offer scholarships to students participating in the Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair (PRSEF) which is a regional science fair affiliated with Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).

Each school is entitled to choose students whose work demonstrates excellence in the school’s areas of interest or specialization and to honor those students with their scholarship awards. The criteria for each scholarship are determined by each school before the fair.

In the month prior to the fair, the representatives of each school will be sent a list of students who have indicated interest in their school. Scholarship judges are encouraged to review the abstracts for the projects belonging to those students before the fair to narrow down their interview list for the day of the fair. A list of interview requests must be submitted to the fair director prior to the fair.

On the day of the fair, Scholarship Judges work with other representatives of their school using a combination of reviewing student abstracts, previewing fair day project submissions and interviewing students, to evaluate all students whose projects fit the criteria set by their school to choose the winner(s) of the scholarship(s). 

Registering to be a Scholarship Judge

If you already have an account at https://www.STEMipshere.org/PRSEF, log in and look for the Judge/Volunteer Registration widget on the right side of your screen. Select “Scholarship Judge” and then click on the red “Register” button. Continue to the next step in the user manual – Complete your registration.

If you do not have an account at https://www.STEMisphere.org/PRSEF yet, you will need to create an account.   You can click on “Register to Be a Judge or Volunteer here” or you can go directly to https://www.STEMisphere.org/PRSEF/judge-volunteer-registration to create your account.

Enter your name and the email address you would like us to use to contact you with fair information. The email address you enter here will also be the username you will use to access the system in the future. Next choose your password.

From the “Registration Type” drop down menu, choose “Scholarship Judge” and then click the “I’m not a robot” box.  Click on the red “Register” box to continue.

Complete your registration

On the registration page, you should first choose your school from the “College” drop down list. If you do not see your school listed, please contact PRSEF@CarnegieScienceCenter.org. Next select your role. Choose “Judge” if you plan to evaluate projects on the day of the fair and “Presenter” if you plan to attend the award ceremony to present your award. You may choose both options if you plan to participate in both events.

You will see additional information fields like your phone number and job title.  Confirm your contact information, then click on the red “Submit Registration” button.

You will receive a confirmation email from CSC STEMisphere at CSC STEMisphereInfo at STEMisphereInfo@CarnegieScienceCenter.Org. Check the email address you entered during registration. Please check your junk mail folder if you do not see this email.  All other fair information will come from the email address PRSEF@CarnegieScienceCenter.org

Changing your information

If you need to change your email address or phone number,go to https://www.STEMisphere.org/PRSEF and log in. Make your corrections in the Update Information section and click on the red “Update” button.

Unregistering to judge

While we appreciate your volunteering to judge at the fair, we understand the sometimes plans change and you will not be able to participate as you originally intended. If you need to cancel your registration, go to https://www.STEMisphere.org/PRSEF and log in.  Scroll down to UnRegister, enter the reason you need to unregister and then click on the red “Unregister” button.   

Filling multiple roles If you are filling more than one role (Parent and Scholarship Judge for example), you will need to switch between profiles to access all of the applicable forms and functionality. To move between profiles, log in and then look to the horizontal menu just below the black and white speckled area. Click on “Registrations / Forms” and then on “Judge Registration” to access your Scholarship Judge profile or on “Manage Role Name Forms” to switch to a different role.