Awards, Prizes & Scholarships

Awards, Prizes & Scholarships

Grand Awards

Awards, prizes, and trips valued at more than $20,000 are typically presented each year by the Fair Board, with thousands of dollars more in special awards, camps, and scholarships presented thanks to the generosity and commitment of Fair sponsors.

Students who develop high-quality projects are designated “Finalists.” It is from among the finalists that judges select winners of the various categories within the divisions for top awards.

High School Top Prizes

Middle School Top Prizes

  • Middle School winners receive cash prizes. The top 10% of Finalists are nominated to participate in the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge.

Elementary Top Prizes

  • Top Elementary Division winners receive medals.

Awards & Scholarships

College and University Scholarships

Local colleges and universities often selected students for scholarships through the Fair, including scholarships to special pre-college programs.

  • UM-Flint
  • Kettering University
  • Lawrence Technological University

International Science & Engineering Fair

ISEF is the world’s largest international pre-college science competition. The competition features nearly 1,600 students selected from more than 80 countries, regions, and territories. ISEF prizes include more than $3,000,000 in prizes and scholarships. Top Senior Division winners are awarded all-expense-paid trips to ISEF.  (Also, when our students go to ISEF - we win, the last 10 years in a row!)


SSP Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge

The FRSEF will nominate students from the Middle School Fair to enter this competition.

Professional Awards

A variety of scientific, engineering, local groups and government organizations present Special Awards to students. These may include:

  • Scholarships to special summer programs
  • Cash awards
  • Expense-paid trips to scientific and engineering events, national conventions, etc.
  • Plaques & Certificates
  • Medals
  • Magazine subscriptions

Professional Awards and Organizations:

  • Bosch Motorsport
    • High Tech for High Speed
    • We Set the Pace
    • Invented for Life
    • Women in STEM
  • Broadcom Foundation
    • Coding with Commitment ($250 prize)
    • Flint Prize
  • City of Flint - Mayor's Office
  • Excellence in Electronics
  • Flint River Watershed Coalition
  • Genesee County Medical Society
  • Hurley
  • Matthew Bauerle Mathematics Award
  • Michigan Association of Hazardous Materials Professionals
  • Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
  • Mott Community College
    • Best Use of Technology
  • Sloan Museum of Discovery (Elem)
  • Lawrence Tech
  • Ascension Genesys
  • 100K Ideas
  • McLaren Healthcare
  • Gupta Science Foundation
  • Kettering University (Scholarship)
  • David and Doris Hill Chemistry Award

Society for Science Professional Awards

  • Regeneron ($500)
  • Lemelson Early Inventor Prize (MS)
  • US Metric Association
  • US Navy
  • Association for Women Geoscientists
  • US AID Science Champion
  • Ricoh Sustainable Development
  • US Stockholm Junior Water Prize
  • US Air Force
  • NASA Earth System Science Award
  • NOAA
  • Society for In-Virto Biology
  • Yale Science and Engineering Association
  • American Psychological