Rules

Eligibility

• Each submission must be made by an individual student or a team of two or three students.
• All students must be enrolled in a middle or high school or be home-schooled in the U.S., its territories or possessions at the time of entry (e.g., the fall 2017 semester or the spring 2018 semester), and be in good standing.
• Students must be U.S. citizens, nationals or permanent residents.
• Previous winners (first, second, third place or people's choice winners) are not eligible to enter again.
• Each entrant must submit a Parental/Guardian Permission Form and NSF 1515 form (one per team), available on the competition platform.
• Employees, contractors, officers or judges of the sponsoring organizations and their children are not eligible to enter the competition.

Entry Rules

• All entries must be received during the competition submission window.
• All entries must be submitted in English.
• A competition entry constitutes an agreement to adhere to the rules and stipulations set forth by the contest sponsors.
• Each entrant certifies, through submission to the contest, that the entry is their own original, creative work and does not violate or infringe the creative work of others, as protected under U.S. copyright law or patent law.
• By entering the contest, the entrant agrees to hold harmless, NSF for all legal and administrative claims to include associated expenses that may arise from any claims related to their submission or its use.
• All judges' decisions are final and may not be appealed.
• Entrants retain all copyright and equivalent rights but give NSF nonexclusive rights to use their names, likenesses, quotes, submissions or any part of their submissions for educational publicity and/or promotional purposes. These include but are not limited to website display, print materials and exhibits.
• NSF will not be responsible for any claims or complaints from third parties about any disputes of ownership regarding the ideas, solutions or images.

Other Rules

• Any entrant or entry found in violation of any rule will be disqualified.
• Winners and their parents or guardians are responsible for all taxes or other fees connected with the prize received and/or travel paid for by the sponsoring organization.
• NSF reserves the right to modify or cancel the competition at any time during the duration of the competition for any reason, including but not limited to an insufficient number of qualified entries received.
• Should NSF decide to bring winning contestants to Washington, D.C., or to any other location for promotional and other purposes, expenses paid by NSF will be within the limits set forth in law according to federal travel regulations.
• All contestants agree that they, their heirs and estates shall hold harmless the United States, the employees of the federal government and all employees of NSF for any and all injuries and/or claims arising from participation in this contest, to include that which may occur while traveling to or participating in contest activities.
• All finalists must be accompanied by a parent or guardian on the trip to Washington, D.C.
• NSF has the final say on any point not outlined in the entry rules.

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