The UALR College of Science will host three regional science fairs for middle and high school students in day-long competitions on Friday, Feb. 28.

The Central Arkansas Regional Science and Engineering Fair (CARSEF), the Central Arkansas Regional Junior Academy of Science, and the American Chemical Society Chemistry Olympiad will be open for competition.

The CARSEF and the Junior Academy of Science fairs will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Donaghey Student Center, while the Olympiad will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. in the UALR Science Lab Building, Room 280.

The top three projects in the senior division of CARSEF will be eligible to attend the International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles in May.

If nominated by CARSEF, up to 15 sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade students may also submit research papers to Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering for Rising Stars).

Awards ceremonies for the junior division begins at 3:30 p.m., while awards for the senior division begins at 4:45 p.m. Both ceremonies will be held in UALR’s Dickinson Hall Auditorium.

More about each fair:

Central Arkansas Regional Science and Engineering Fair

CARSEF is for public, private, and home-school students from Cleburne, Conway, Faulkner, Lonoke, Monroe, Perry, Pope, Prairie, Pulaski, Van Buren, White, Woodruff, and Yell counties.

The junior division is open to fourth through ninth grade-students. The senior division is open to students in grades nine to 12. (Ninth grade competitors may be in either junior or senior division but not both.)

Keith Harris, fair director and research associate in UALR’s Department of Teacher Education, said the competition is to encourage participation in a science fair from rural counties in Arkansas.

The CARSEF event will accept projects in international science and engineering fair categories.

Central Arkansas Regional Junior Academy of Science

The Central Arkansas Regional Junior Academy of Science offers separate junior and senior divisions for students in Conway, Faulkner, Logan, Lonoke, Monroe, Perry, Pope, Prairie, Pulaski, and Yell counties.

Participation is encouraged by public and private schools.

Categories for the competition include behavioral and social sciences, biochemistry, botany, chemistry, computer science, earth and space science, engineering, environmental science, mathematics, medicine and health, microbiology, physics, and zoology.

American Chemical Society Chemistry Olympiad

Any high school chemistry student in the central Arkansas region can compete in the Olympiad by being nominated by a high school chemistry teacher. The Olympiad involves a series of theoretical exams, laboratory exercises, and other activities aimed at identifying the best chemistry students from nations around the world.

The local competition is sponsored by the Central Arkansas Section of the American Chemical Society, a chapter of the American Chemical Society.

The top 10 students selected will return to UALR in April to take the national exam to qualify for the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad team.