Guidelines

Live Animal Research

To qualify as a research or workshop presenter, students must adhere to the guidelines on live animal research, as set forth in the National Society for Medical Research's "Guiding Principles in the Use of Animals by Secondary School Students", and adopted by the UW-Madison JSEHS Faculty Advisory Committee:

To ensure the humane treatment of all animals, a qualified adult who has had training in the proper care of laboratory animals must supervise and assume responsibility for all experiments that involve living vertebrates. Further, no experiment may be undertaken that involves any pathogenic drugs or organisms unless these procedures are performed under the immediate supervision of a biomedical scientist experienced in the field under investigation. If there is no one on the school faculty with proper training for these procedures, arrangements must be made for the services of such a person on a consulting basis.

To download the guidelines for preparing a research paper go to the "Guidelines" page of the National JSHS or download the guidelines directly at http://www.jshs.org/forms/guidelines.pdf.

Criteria used in the Judging of JSEHS Research Papers

Research papers chosen for the scholarship competition will be given before an audience of approximately 150 high school students and teachers, the Symposium staff, and members of the Faculty Advisory Committee. The audience will be encouraged to provide evaluative comments which will be considered by the judges. However, the selection of the winning research is done solely by the Faculty Advisory Committee and is based on the following criteria:

1. Quality of the research design
   1. Clarity of statement and delineation of the problem
   2. Identification of the variables
   3. Recognition of the limitations in accuracy
   4. Evaluation of the significance of the data
   5. Degree to which the date really supports the conclusions
2. Uniqueness of or originality in the research topic
3. Degree of the student’s independent contribution
4. Use of the facilities at hand
5. Depth of scientific understanding displayed by the student
6. Quality of presentation
   1. Planning and organization
   2. Board work and visuals; quality of graphics
   3. Clarity in presentation
   4. Handling of questions from the audience and faculty committee