Buckhannon — West Virginia high school students with an interest in science, mathematics, computers, psychology or engineering have the opportunity to compete for scholarships at the West Virginia Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (WV-JSHS), slated for March 13-14 on West Virginia Wesleyan’s campus.
The competition is open to high school students in grades 9-12 (in public or private high schools, or students who are home schooled), and is sponsored through a joint partnership between the U.S. Departments of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
The keynote speaker this year is Dr. Rebecca Pompano from the University of Virginia. She will be speaking about bioanalytical chemistry and immunology.
Applications are being accepted through March 6 at an online registration portal: http://www.cvent.com/d/0hq241.
Winners selected at the state level will go on to compete for additional scholarships at the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium in Norfolk, Va. from Apr 15-18. Travel to, and lodging at, the National JSHS is free to participating students and chaperones. More information about the JSHS program is available online at www.jshs.org.
Interested students should plan to make a 12-minute, oral presentation on their research or engineering projects using presentation software (such as PowerPoint), and they should be prepared to submit a research paper in electronic form when they register on campus at the Symposium.
“I think the judges at the regional and national levels pay just as much attention to homegrown, teacher-led projects as they do to the ones developed in university labs with renowned researchers,” said regional director Dr. Tracey DeLaney, associate professor of physics at Wesleyan. “West Virginia students tend to do very well. Strong science fair projects translate well to the JSHS format, so students who are participating in science fairs should also consider competing in the WV-JSHS.”
Participation in the state competition is free and lodging and meals are provided. The only expense associated with the symposium is the cost of travel to Wesleyan’s campus in Buckhannon. If you have questions, contact Dr. DeLaney via email (delaney_t@wvwc.edu).
