QED Pre-Registration Pertinent Information
- QED Project Guidelines
- Qualifying for the City Science Fair
- QED Paper and Presentation Board Guidelines
- Project Divisions
- Pre-Registration Form
All papers should follow all of the guidelines presented here. You will find the pre-registration form at the bottom of this page.
QED Project Guidelines
A QED entry consists of two parts: a paper and a presentation board summarizing the major ideas and work of the paper (just like science fair). In addition, a computer science project includes a demonstration of the project software/code. Students may participate as an individual or in a pair. Students are expected to be in attendance on the day of the symposium to present their work to the judges and to each other.
QED entries will be judged by the following rubrics:
Qualifying for the Chicago Public Schools Science Fair
Students interested in qualifying for the CPS Science Fair through QED should also read the Science Fair guidelines at http://cpsscifair.org/Docs/2010Handbook.htm. At QED the top six students in grades 9-12 and the top six students in grades 7-8 who are Chicago Public School students will automatically qualify for the City Fair. These students will be notified at QED that they have qualified for the Fair and will receive further instructions early in the new year about how to Pre-register online for the City Fair. Also, those wishing to compete in the CPS Science Fair should note that CPS does not allow partnered projects at the High School level.
QED Paper Guidelines
Senior Division (high school students) participants must submit their papers by November 28th, the deadline for pre-registration.
Junior (5th/6th grade) Division and and Intermediate Division (7th/8th grade) participants must submit their papers by December 2nd.
Papers must be typed, double-spaced, in 12 point Times New Roman. It is acceptable for students to hand-write equations and hand-drawn diagrams, but – especially for high school papers – typeset work is preferred. Note that Microsoft Word and Google Drive both include relatively straightforward equation editing tools. Papers need not be written in LaTeX.
We expect that papers in the Junior Division (grades 5-6) will be 3-5 pages in length, Intermediate Division (grades 7-8) 5-7 pages, and papers in the Senior Division (grades 9-12) will be 10 pages or more. These page counts include a reference page, but excludes appendices. The main focus is on quality of thought and results, not quantity of writing; we anticipate that some excellent papers will present elegant solutions that require less explanation. All papers must contain the following items, although the expectations for each item vary with each Division.
Submitting papers: Papers should be converted to .pdfs before being emailed to: qed@mathcirclesofchicago.org by the deadlines listed above. The file name of the submitted paper should be in this format: (Last_Name, First, Partner Last_Name, First, Paper_name, Division). If you have a partner, please submit only one paper for you and your partner.
Paper Contents and Presentation Board Guidelines
Math and Applied Math Projects
Project Divisions
Student divisions are based on grade levels, regardless of the mathematics the students are actually studying. Students who are doing particularly advanced projects may enter in a higher division.
Junior: grades 5-6
Intermediate: grades 7-8
Senior: grades 9-12
*Please note: QED allows for partner projects at every level. However, those wishing to also compete in the CPS Science Fair should note that CPS does not allow partnered projects at the High School level.
**Important reminder to Senior Division entries. You must submit your paper by November 28th, 2022. Papers may only be submitted in .pdf file format. Upon registration, you should email your paper to qed@mathcirclesofchicago.org.
Pre-Registration Form
Fill out the information below to register for QED. Pre-registration for QED 2022 is closed.
Email qed@mathcirclesofchicago.org if you have any questions. PLEASE READ: If you have a partner, you and your partner should complete this form together only ONCE, and complete the information for BOTH PARTNERS COMPLETELY.