The path to reserve a spot to compete in Intel ISEF is typically a year-long process that ultimately compiles a small group of devoted young scientists out of hundreds of thousands of contenders. A high school student must first pass through a local fair that is affiliated with Intel ISEF. An affiliated fair registers with Science Service and must contain 5+ participating high schools or 50+ students in grades 9-12. These fairs are conducted at local, regional, state or national levels. A list of affiliated fairs can be found on the official Intel ISEF website at: http://www.sciserv.org/isef/students/aff_fairsearch.asp. You might compete in as many as 4 fairs before being chosen to participate in Intel ISEF. If you win the top prize at one of these fairs, you will have earned an all expense paid trip to travel to the international fair for that year. Most local fairs are held in February and March, while state, regional and international fairs are scheduled during April and May. However, for any project to succeed, one should expect to spend a good part of the fall and winter seasons to researching and recording data.