News & Insights
Topic strategy, qualification paths and competition craft from the Embark coaching team.
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School Crests, QR Codes and Medals: The ISEF Display Rules That Catch International Finalists (2026-27)
Flags, school crests, QR codes, handouts and medals are all barred from an ISEF booth. Here is the size envelope, the banned list, and the citation rule for every image.
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Doing ISEF Twice: How Continuation Projects Work and When Year Two Beats Starting Over (2026-27)
If your new project touches last year’s research at all, ISEF treats it as a continuation and Form 7 is required. What counts as new and different, and what gets rejected.
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Too Young for ISEF? What to Build in Grades 7-9 Before the Clock Starts (2026)
ISEF is for grades 9-12, and most work done before grade 9 falls outside the research window. Here is what the two years before eligibility should actually be spent on.
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After the Ribbon: What to Do With Your ISEF Project When the Season Ends (2026)
Continue it, share it, or retire it. What ISEF continuation rules actually allow, how to publish responsibly, and the trap families fall into after the season.
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ISEF Machine-Learning Projects: What Turns a Model Into Research (2026)
ISEF has no machine-learning category. Here is where ML projects actually belong among the 22 categories, and the four pieces of evidence judges look for.
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How Much Help Is Too Much? The Ownership Line in ISEF Research (2026-27)
Where does legitimate mentoring end and someone else’s project begin? How ISEF documents student contribution, what judges test at the booth, and where parents fit.
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You Qualified for ISEF — Now What? The Weeks Between Your Fair and Finals (2026-27)
Your affiliated fair nominated you. The gap before ISEF may be a few weeks or a couple of months. A coach guide to what to fix, what to leave alone, and what to rehearse.
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Science, Engineering, or Computational? Choosing the Right ISEF Project Type (2026)
Scientific, engineering, or computational? How to choose the right ISEF project type early, and how judges evaluate each differently, a coach framework for students.