Annual Delaware Valley Science Council (DVSC) Science Awards Program
The DVSC’s main activity is an annual program to identify, encourage, and recognize talented youth. This program has been held for over 70 years. Each year, more than 300 high schools in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware are invited to nominate up to three junior-year students to the DVSC Awards Program.
The DVSC Awards Program has three main components:
APPLICATION– Participants nominated by their school will complete and submit a detailed program application. Rather than be wholly recognition and achievement based, many of the questions are “experience based” – as in “tell us about a time when you …”. Applications will be blind-reviewed by multiple teams of scientists and rated following a comprehensive rubric that balances opportunity, initiative, achievement, breadth (and depth) of participation in science endeavors, quality of submission, passion and intangibles to identify competition finalists.
INTERVIEWS – The top students from the application surveys are identified
and invited to be interviewed by small teams of outstanding local scientists and engineers. During the interviews, students are judged not only on their expertise in science, but also on their poise, communications skills, and well-roundedness. Additionally, the students have the opportunity to interact with professional engineers and scientists who are willing to share their educational and career experiences.
AWARDS – Based upon the results of the application and interviews, awards are announced as soon as possible after the interviews. The student awards fall into three categories: 1) Science Council Awards, 2) Professional Society Awards, and 3) Specific Directed Awards. Awards ranging from $100 to over $1200 are offered to up to 30 outstanding students.
For details on these program components, look under News and Events.