[6] Each year, research reports submitted before a late-September to early-October deadline were subjected to a blind reading.
All semifinalists received a special recognition package, with their names announced in a full page USA Today advertisement.
[7] From the pool of semifinalists, 30 individuals and 30 teams (2–3 students) were selected as Regional Finalists and invited to compete during the month of November at one of the six partner universities (Caltech, UT Austin, Notre Dame, Carnegie Mellon, MIT, and Ga. Tech).
In addition to project content, judging was also based on the oral presentation, poster display, cited references, and the question and answer session.
The National Finalists (6 individual and 6 team projects) received an all-expense-paid trip during the first weekend of December to Washington, D.C.