{ "snapshot_date": "2026-05-19", "dataset_version": "0.1.0", "fit_cards": [ { "label": "Best-fit student", "value": "9-12", "note": "High school student with original biotechnology research and a state or regional route." }, { "label": "Core submission", "value": "Poster + abstract", "note": "Current public checklists emphasize a 250-word abstract, short lay description, poster PDF, and mentor/safety information." }, { "label": "Judge room", "value": "10 + 5", "note": "Illinois specifies a 10-minute presentation followed by 5 minutes of questions." } ], "challenge_tracks": [ { "name": "Healthcare", "best_for": "Human health biotechnology", "definition": "Projects whose intended or anticipated outcome is in healthcare-related sciences.", "examples": [ "Diagnostics, biomarkers, medical devices, or health data analytics", "Drug targets, therapeutics, vaccines, delivery systems, or bioproduction", "Genomic, molecular, cellular, or systems-biology work related to human health" ] }, { "name": "Sustainability", "best_for": "Agricultural biotechnology", "definition": "Projects whose intended or anticipated outcome improves agricultural or food-system biotechnology.", "examples": [ "Crop resilience under drought, heat, pests, or depleted soil", "Beneficial symbiosis, soil improvement, disease control, or animal health", "Agricultural bioinformatics or computational biotechnology" ] }, { "name": "Environment", "best_for": "Industrial and environmental biotechnology", "definition": "Projects whose intended or anticipated outcome affects industrial or environmental issues.", "examples": [ "Bioremediation, plastic degradation, waste conversion, or emissions reduction", "Bio-based materials, marine biotechnology, or improved biofuels", "Biological production processes that conserve resources or reduce waste" ] } ], "regional_programs": [ { "name": "Georgia BioGENEius Challenge", "scope": "Georgia high school students", "current_status": "2026 completed; 2027 application details pending", "deadline": "Applications for 2027 to be announced in early 2027", "event_date": "2026-03-27 at Georgia Science and Engineering Fair", "submission_package": [ "Original independent research", "Category selection", "State eligibility verification" ], "notes": "Georgia page lists Healthcare, Sustainability, and Environment categories and states that there is currently no International BioGENEius competition.", "url": "https://www.galifesciences.org/biogeneius", "confidence": "high" }, { "name": "Illinois BioGENEius Challenge", "scope": "Illinois high school students", "current_status": "2026 public guidelines available", "deadline": "2026-04-03 at 10 PM Central", "event_date": "2026-04-22 in guidelines; public page also listed 2026-04-29", "submission_package": [ "250-word abstract", "Poster upload", "Signed permission and photo release", "Safety documentation where applicable", "Mentor or supervisor contact information", "5-10 page research paper" ], "notes": "The public page and PDF conflict on the exact 2026 competition date, so verify directly before scheduling.", "url": "https://ibio.org/educate/biogeneius/", "confidence": "medium" }, { "name": "BioGENEius Application Checklist", "scope": "General application fields", "current_status": "Legacy official checklist still publicly available", "deadline": "", "event_date": "", "submission_package": [ "Student information", "Parent or guardian information", "School information", "Mentor information", "Project title", "250-word abstract", "55-word description", "Poster PDF" ], "notes": "Useful for pre-advising fields, but not a substitute for a current state page.", "url": "https://biotechinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/checklist.pdf", "confidence": "medium" }, { "name": "International BioGENEius historical profile", "scope": "Historical international competition context", "current_status": "Historical page, not current operations guidance", "deadline": "", "event_date": "Historical reference: BIO convention-era finals", "submission_package": [ "Historical finalist showcase", "Expert biotech judging", "International comparison" ], "notes": "Useful for explaining brand lineage, but Georgia's current page says no International BioGENEius competition is presently active.", "url": "https://stemconnector.org/biogeneiuschallenge/", "confidence": "low" } ], "judging_weights": [ { "criterion": "Scientific Merit and Creative Ability", "weight_pct": 40, "strategy": "Lead with a precise biotechnology question, a plausible mechanism, a clear control/comparison, and a short explanation of what is novel." }, { "criterion": "Project Execution", "weight_pct": 40, "strategy": "Make methods, approvals, data quality, statistical choices, mentor role, and limitations easy for judges to inspect." }, { "criterion": "Presentation", "weight_pct": 20, "strategy": "Rehearse a 10-minute story with clean visuals, then prepare crisp answers for expected judge questions." } ], "prep_timeline": [ { "window": "12-20 weeks out", "goal": "Confirm route and category", "advisor_note": "Find the state or regional page, confirm eligibility, and choose Healthcare, Sustainability, or Environment before shaping the abstract." }, { "window": "8-12 weeks out", "goal": "Finish research spine", "advisor_note": "Lock hypothesis, methods, safety/approval records, data dictionary, figures, and primary statistical test." }, { "window": "3-6 weeks out", "goal": "Build submission package", "advisor_note": "Draft the 250-word abstract, short lay description, 48-by-36-style poster, paper if required, and mentor/supervisor information." }, { "window": "1-2 weeks out", "goal": "Rehearse judge room", "advisor_note": "Run timed 10-minute presentations and question drills on novelty, controls, uncertainty, ethics, safety, and next steps." } ], "project_archetypes": [ { "track": "Healthcare", "archetype": "Biomarker or diagnostic signal", "strong_framing": "Tests whether a molecular, imaging, microbial, or computationally derived feature can distinguish a clinically meaningful condition.", "weak_framing": "Presents an app or classifier as the invention without a biological hypothesis." }, { "track": "Healthcare", "archetype": "Therapeutic target or delivery mechanism", "strong_framing": "Connects a target, pathway, compound, delivery system, or cell process to a measurable health outcome.", "weak_framing": "Lists disease facts or performs docking without a testable biological claim." }, { "track": "Sustainability", "archetype": "Crop resilience or soil biology", "strong_framing": "Measures whether a biological intervention improves growth, yield, stress tolerance, pathogen resistance, or soil function.", "weak_framing": "Frames the work as gardening, generic sustainability, or a product pitch." }, { "track": "Sustainability", "archetype": "Agricultural bioinformatics", "strong_framing": "Uses genomics, microbial data, or computational modeling to answer a food-system biotechnology question.", "weak_framing": "Uses public data only to make a dashboard without a biological or agricultural decision point." }, { "track": "Environment", "archetype": "Bioremediation or waste conversion", "strong_framing": "Tests how organisms, enzymes, consortia, or biomaterials transform pollutants, plastics, waste streams, or emissions.", "weak_framing": "Shows that pollution is bad or proposes cleanup without measured biological performance." }, { "track": "Environment", "archetype": "Bio-based materials or fuels", "strong_framing": "Evaluates biological production, degradation, resource efficiency, or performance tradeoffs for a material or fuel.", "weak_framing": "Treats a prototype object as the main claim instead of the biotechnology behind it." } ], "sources": [ { "label": "Georgia BioGENEius Challenge", "url": "https://www.galifesciences.org/biogeneius", "note": "Current state page with 2026 Georgia details, category descriptions, past winners, and note that no International BioGENEius competition is presently active." }, { "label": "iBIO BioGENEius Illinois", "url": "https://ibio.org/educate/biogeneius/", "note": "Current Illinois public page with 2026 deadline and competition location." }, { "label": "2026 Illinois BioGENEius Contest Guidelines", "url": "https://ibio.org/wp-content/uploads/2026-Illinois-BioGENEius-Contest-Guidelines.pdf", "note": "PDF guideline with eligibility, submission package, paper/poster expectations, presentation format, judging weights, and approval requirements." }, { "label": "BioGENEius Application Checklist", "url": "https://biotechinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/checklist.pdf", "note": "Public checklist describing application fields, mentor fields, 250-word abstract, 55-word project description, and poster PDF upload." }, { "label": "STEM Connector historical profile", "url": "https://stemconnector.org/biogeneiuschallenge/", "note": "Historical context for International BioGENEius branding and competition lineage." } ] }