Rishab Jain has competed at 11 National-Level Science Fairs where he has Won over $100,000

Meet Rishab. He’s the king of science fairs and STEM competitions. When he was in the 7th and 8th grade he came up with a better method of diagnosing cancer. And it has been all uphill from there. Over his middle school and high school years, he has competed in 11 national-level fairs and has won over $100,000 with his research. His STEM excellence has allowed him to win other major awards such as becoming a Coca Cola Scholar and a Presidential Scholar – two of the most prestigious award given to high school seniors. In fact, he’s so dominant that he was named one of the 25 most influential teens in the world by Time Magazine. He was on the same list as Greta Thunberg and Billie Eilish. Way to represent science, Rishab!

Check out Rishab’s Major Accomplishments – Awards – Classes – Interview Questions

Major Accomplishments

Presidential Scholar – Every year the Department of Education picks 160-170 of the highest achieving seniors across all disciplines. There are least two from every state and Rishab was one of them from Oregon. This is literally the Nobel Prize of high school awards.

11x National Science Fair Competitor – There are a lot of science fairs out there and Rishab has won almost all of them. In middle school, he was crowned America’s Top Young Scientist by 3M and won 2nd place in the Technology category at the Broadcom Masters competition. In high school, he competed 4 times in the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) where he won 4th, 3rd and 1st place Grand Awards in the Biomedical Engineering category in addition to the Regeneron Young Scientist award in 2022 (one of the top 3 award across all categories). As if that weren’t enough, Rishab also won a 2nd and two 1st place awards for his projects at the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium and he was an Science Technology Search (STS) scholar (top 300 in the nation).

National Awards

• Presidential Scholar – 2023 – US Department of Education
• Gloria Barron Prize Winner ($10,000) – 2023 The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes
• Coca Cola Scholar ($20,000) – 2023 Coca Cola Scholars Foundation
• Finalist – 2023 National Merit Scholar
• Scholar (top 300) ($2,000) – 2023 Science Talent Search
• Inductee – 2023 National Gallery for America’s Young Inventors
• Scholar – 2023 Research Science Institute (RSI)
• 4th place ($500) – 2023 International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) – Biomedical Engineering category
• Regeneron Young Scientist Award ($50,000) – 2022 International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)
• 1st place ($5000) – 2022 International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) – Biomedical Engineering category
• 1st place ($12,000) – 2022 National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (NJSH) – Medicine & Health category – Oral Presentation
• 3rd place ($1,000) – 2021 International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) – Biomedical Engineering category
• 1st place ($12,000) – 2021 National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (NJSH) – Biomedical Science category – Oral Presentation
• Qualifier – 2020 International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) – Biomedical Engineering category
• 2nd place ($450) – 2020 National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (NJSH) – Medicine & Health category – Poster Presentation
• 2nd place ($1000) – 2019 Broadcom Masters (National Middle School Science Fair) – Technology category
• Vincitore Assoluto Award – Giuseppe Sciacca Foundation in Vatican City
• America’s Top Young Scientist (1st place) ($25,000) – 2018 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge
• Time Magazine’s 25 Most Influential Teens – 2018 Time Magazine

State / Multi-state Awards

• 2nd place – 2023 Northwest Science Expo (Oregon State Science Fair) – Bioengineering & Materials category
• 1st place – 2023 Oregon Junior Science & Humanities Symposium (OJSH) – Oral Presentation
• 1st place – 2022 Northwest Science Expo (Oregon State Science Fair) – Cellular & Molecular Biology category
• Regeneron Biomedical Science Award ($500) – 2022 Northwest Science Expo (Oregon State Science Fair)
• 1st place – 2022 Oregon Junior Science & Humanities Symposium (OJSH) – Oral Presentation
• 1st place – 2021 Oregon Junior Science & Humanities Symposium (OJSH) – Oral Presentation
• Best of Fair Life Sciences ($1000) – 2020 Northwest Science Expo (Oregon State Science Fair)
• 1st place – 2020 Northwest Science Expo (Oregon State Science Fair) – Medical & Health Sciences category

School / City / County Awards

• 1st place – 2023 Beaverton Hillsboro Science Expo – Engineering group
• Honorable Mention – 2022 Beaverton Hillsboro Science Expo – Medical & Health Sciences
• BHSE Award for Excellence in Statistics – 2022 Beaverton Hillsboro Science Expo
• Outstanding Project in Invitro Biology – 2022 Beaverton Hillsboro Science Expo
• Best of Fair (ISEF Qualification) – 2021 Beaverton Hillsboro Science Expo
• 1st place – 2021 Beaverton Hillsboro Science Expo – Medical & Health Sciences
• 1st place – 2020 Beaverton Hillsboro Science Expo – Medical & Health Sciences

Classes

Colleges Applied To

Clubs, Extracurricular Activities & Hobbies

• Independent Science Research (for science fairs)
• Student Research Assistant – Oregon Health and Science University
• Social Media Influencer (Discord and College Admissions Guru)
• Founder – Samyak Science Society (non-profit to mentor STEM students)
• Scouting – BSA
• Track and Field (800m and 4x400m)
• Academic All American – Speech and Debate (Lincoln Douglas, Impromptu, Radio Commentary)
• Singing

Some Interview Questions with Rishab

Q – By my count, you’ve participated in 11 national-level science fairs including 3M, Broadcom, ISEF, STS and JSHS.  Are there any others that you wish that you would have tried?

A – Davidson Fellows was a miss. I also looked at Rise Global Scholars and the Paradigm Challenge but they seemed too much like lotteries.

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Q – Do you have any advice for how kids can avoid or deal with irrational / inconsistent judging particularly at local science fairs?  For example, your most successful ISEF project in 2022 only got an honorable mention at your local fair and you almost didn’t maker it to ISEF.

A – Judges at local science fairs are mostly engineers and scientists who work for local companies and not PhD researchers like many of the judges at state and national fairs. First you should politely ask them about their background and then tailor your presentation to them. For example. if they are are engineers focus on your process as that will likely appeal to them. Also, don’t assume that they know about the science behind your project. Explain why your mission is important and how your project fits into what other researchers are doing.

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Q – I see that you started Samyak Science with your brother, Aditya.   I looked him up in the ISEF database and found that he went to ISEF 3 times.  Do you think that you would have been as successful at science competitions if he didn’t help blaze a trail for you?

A – I love my brother, but I think I would have done just as well if I didn’t have his footsteps to follow in.

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Q – It seems like you thrive on competitions and they push you to do amazing work.  Does your life feel a little emptier now that you are in Harvard and there aren’t as many formal competitions?  Or, have you game-ified your Harvard classes, getting published, and other things to give yourself that same adrenaline rush?

A – Believe it or not I don’t think of science research as a competition. I do research because I love it and my goal is to make an impact through my work.

If anyone else has questions for Rishab, please leave them in the comments.