Standing Out at the Broadcom MASTERS
The Broadcom MASTERS is the premier science and engineering competition for middle school students in the United States and internationally. Every year, regional science fairs nominate the top 10% of their 6th-8th-grade competitors to attend this competitive fair. With over $100,000 in awards for finalists, including the Samueli Foundation prize of $25,000, Broadcom MASTERS is an excellent way to inspire young scientists and innovators to solve the challenges of the future. Read on to learn more about how to earn your spot among the Broadcom MASTERS alums.
What is Broadcom MASTERS?
Each year the Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology, and Engineering for Rising Stars) comptetition is put on by the Society for Science in the United States, as well as an International sister competition for students in countries ranging from Brazil to Taiwan to the Czech Republic and beyond. This competition brings together some of the brightest middle school students to present their research, engage in specialized programming, participate in hands-on STEM activities, and discover new career paths.
Unlike many competitions, participation in Broadcom MASTERS is by invitation only. Each year, fairs affiliated with the Society for Science will nominate the top 10% of their students in the sixth through eighth grades. You can find a Society Affiliated Fair in your area by going to Find a Society Affiliated Fair. The top 30 finalists will be brought together to be judged on their research project and their performance on challenges that test their collaboration and critical thinking skills, competing for a top award of $25,000.
How to Compete in Broadcom MASTERS
The first step to earning your invitation to Broadcom MASTERS is participating in a local/school science fair. If you do well in that, you can advance to larger regional science fairs until you reach a Society-affiliated science fair. Society Affiliated competitions exist in almost every state in the United States and over 70 countries, regions, and territories at the local, regional, state, and national levels. If you need help advancing to your regional MASTERS-affiliated fair, reach out to the fair contact person for more information. You will use the same project for all fairs – you don’t need a new project for MASTERS specifically.
There are a few Broadcom MASTERS rules for eligibility that you will need to adhere to:
Be in grades 6-8 (or your international equivalent, usually students 14-18 years of age)
The project should be in English
The project should not include more than 12 months of continuous research
If you completed team research, you and your team members must submit a individual applications, and it is possible for some members to win awards and some not to
Crafting a Winning Broadcom MASTERS Application
The application may seem long at first, divided into four parts and supplementary materials, but you can save an exit any time you want so that you can take breaks. The tasks will be broken into
Part 1: Formal Registration
Part 2: Project Information
Part 3: Essay Questions
Part 4: Personal Interests
Uploading a Visual Aid
Science Fair Paperwork
Uploading a Permission Form
It is recommended to work on Parts 1 and 4 in the Broadcom MASTERS application first, which ask for basic information about yourself and what you like to do in your free time. Part 1 will asl some basic information about you and your project. Part 4 will ask you to detail extra-curricular activities, hobbies, and sports that you are involved in and any STEM programs you have attended. It will ask you about challenges you have overcome, accomplishments you are most proud of, and give you a chance to elaborate on your after-school activities.
The project questions in Part 2 are intended for you to tell the Broadcom MASTERS team about your project. This part will ask you which category best describes your project, its title, if it is a team project, and short answer questions detailing the inspiration for your project, a summary of your work, and the impact/benefit of your work.
The essay questions in Part 3 are intended to feel like an interview. They will ask “About Me” essay questions, where you can let your personality shine through, so be creative with your answers! They have also asked “Solve a Problem” essay questions, where they may give you a hypothetical situation and ask how you might apply scientific reasoning to solve a particular problem. The Broadcom MASTERS team is not looking for Nobel Prize-winning answers, they just want to see how well you understand the scientific method.
Finally, they will ask for supplementary materials, like a visual aid for your project and some paperwork. The visual aid should contain figures and captions, charts, tables, photos, etc. These should not be photographs of your physical project board or poster – just some of the figures you have produced in your work. Finally, the Broadcom MASTERS paperwork will ask about where you conducted your research, a summary of your approval/permission process at your school or science fair, the start and end dates of your research, etc.
Making a Splash at Broadcom MASTERS
If you want your project to make a splash, keep in mind the criteria that the judges are using to score you.
Scientific Thought/Engineering Goals
The Broadcom MASTERS judges will be looking to see if you understand the scientific process in design and method or if you had a clear objective and tested solution. They will want to know how you collected and evaluated your data and how well you can explain your project, its limitations, and possible ideas for further research. Judges will pay particular attention to see if you conducted multiple trials, which is often used to choose the top 30 finalists.
Creativity, Originality, and Enthusiasm
The Broadcom MASTERS judges want to see that you have independence and initiative, that your research question/task and approach were creative, and they want to see how your essays demonstrate your enthusiasm for the project and science/engineering generally.
Mastery of STEM Principles
The Broadcom MASTERS judges will want to see how well your description of your work “deconstructs” your project and provides examples of how you used STEM principles during the completion of your project. This is also how they will evaluate your “Solve a Problem” questions, looking to see how you can apply STEM principles in everyday life.
Overall Impression
In this category, the Broadcom MASTERS judges are looking to see how sound your project design is, your independence, your comprehension of the project, and how well you demonstrated creativity and enthusiasm for science/engineering throughout your application.
To ensure that you score well in each of these domains, it is strongly recommended that you enlist the help of a science teacher or mentor. A trusted adult with a scientific background can teach you best practices in science, ensure that your project is original and creative, and help you master STEM principles. If you are interested in using Artificial Intelligence in your research, consider applying to programs at InspiritAI! Whether or not you have any prior experience in coding, there is an InspiritAI for you, where you can learn the fundamentals of scientific research and artificial intelligence. In particular, our 1:1 Mentorship program would give you access to a mentor with extensive experience in science/engineering who could help you make your project the best it can be. For more information, do not hesitate to contact InspiritAI with questions.
