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The California Science & Engineering Fair is the final science fair of the academic year for students throughout the State of California in grades 6 - 12, serving California's future scientists and engineers since 1952. The fair is hosted by the California Science and Engineering Fair Foundation.

The 75th annual California Science and Engineering Fair will be held on Saturday and Sunday, April 11-12, 2026, on the campus of California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. This year we expect about 900 participants from 400 schools throughout the State who will present 800 projects in competition for awards totaling about $30,000.


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Latest News from the Fair (2026):

Qualified Students
Students who have qualified to participate in CSEF will be sent invitations individually by CSEF to their personal email addresses that were provided to us by their affiliated fair. Being named by an affiliated fair is not sufficient. Students must complete an application with CSEF in order to participate. Here are the names of all students who have been qualified to CSEF to date.
Student Applications
The Student Application System is now open. All students now on the Qualified list above have been sent invitations. More will be sent invitations as Qualification lists are submitted by our affiliated fairs.
Judge Registration
The Judge Registration System will open shortly. If you are already in the database, you will be alerted when it opens. If you are not already in our records, please add your name to the list of those wishing to be alerted when judges can register for the 2026 fair.

Important Information About the Fair for:

  

CSEF Reference Library:

Our 2026 Benefactors:


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Haven't been to the Fair? Here are some of the photographs from previous years taken by our photographer. For the historically-minded, here's a short photo essay using photographs taken a few decades ago.

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Last updated: Mon Mar 2 01:08:52 PM PST 2026
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