For Nominators

All supporting programmes or competitions may nominate up to five projects for Realise the Dream. This involves completing a nomination form for each project and sending their work to the Realise the Dream Selection panel where it will be discussed and reviewed at the end of October.

Exemplar Nomination Interviews

Daniel Hodder

Hollie Andrewes

Peter Smallfield

Nomination Forms

Click on the links below to download a PDF of the nomination forms for Science, Technology and Crest. The forms will open in a new window.

Science Nomination Form

Technology Nomination Form

Crest Nomination Form

Bright Sparks Nomination Form

Young Historian Nomination Form

Young Enterprise Scheme Nomination Form

Y13 Geography Competition Nomination Form

Nominated Student Form

Structure of the Judging Process

Each contributing organization may nominate up to 5 projects (number determined by RSNZ) to be considered for selection to attend Realise The Dream. All nominations must be accompanied by written documentation from the student and the Chief Judge of the nominating organization, and a 5 minute video, as specified by the RSNZ from time to time. Nominations are invited from

Regional Science and Technology Fairs
CREST Awards programme
Bright Sparks programme
Young Enterprise Competition
Yr13 Young Historian Competition
Yr 13 Geography Competition
Other events determined by the Royal Society as being an appropriate source of projects.

The Nominations Judging Panel considers the submitted materials and ranks the nominated projects on the basis of these materials.
The top-ranked projects are selected to fill the places available in Realise The Dream that year.
At the Realise The Dream event the Awards Judging Panel allocates awards and prizes on the basis of the rankings and additional material presented at Realise the Dream.

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Selecting Projects for Realise the Dream - October

The Nominations Judging Panel consists of a Convenor (Chief Judge), and 7 to 9 others.

The Royal Society of New Zealand (RSNZ) provides an organising official for Realise the Dream, who will attend the panel, to support its work. Furthermore, the relevant RSNZ Manager may attend at any time, and is available for consultation by the panel.
The panel is not open to the public or contributing organisations, except by invitation of RSNZ.

All judges have a broad range of knowledge, experience and qualifications, as the task requires relative evaluations across a very wide range of topic areas. Every judge is able to contribute comment on most aspects of every project. However, each judge has fields of special expertise and these are given appropriate weight.
Every judge is very familiar with the criteria outlined in the Judging Handbook1, as well as the principles of scientific method, technology development, research practice, and ethical considerations. The judging panel includes representatives well experienced in the relevant aspects of the NCEA Framework as they affect the production of projects.
Most judges have significant direct judging experience in other national or regional science and technology fairs. Occasionally judges may be selected for other forms of expertise.

Projects selected for Realise the Dream represent excellence across many categories including:

Science - including physics, chemistry, biology, earth science, astronomy, mathematics, psychology, environmental science ...
Social Science - including history, geography, environmental issues .
Engineering and Technology, including Biotechnology, Information and communication technology, Electronics and control technology, Food technology, Materials technology, Structures and/or Mechanisms
Business , including business acumen, company design ...
Selection for Realise the Dream is not restricted to senior school students: nominations are also encouraged from younger students (e.g. Year 7 & 8) who show a high level of potential.

It is expected that all contributing organisations will apply robust selection criteria and submit those projects they consider most worthy from their event. The Realise the Dream judging panel has no control over the range of projects nominated in a given year. As a result, most categories will be represented most years, but it will be unusual to have all the categories (above) represented in any one year.

Judging will be based on the following aspects, as appropriate to the project:

Planning and Preparation
Thought and Understanding (in planning the project, interpreting the results, and grasping the implications and limitations of the findings)
Originality /Innovation/Creativity
Scientific Method/ Aim/Hypothesis
Development methodology
Identification of need / Application
Statistical robustness of analysis (including number of replications)
Research Methodology
Thoroughness
Technical Skills
Integration of competencies from the relevant disciplines
Quality of written reports or abstracts
Material presentation
Reasons for nominating work for Realise the Dream
Exhibitors personal interview and video

The relevance of these aspects to science and technology projects is well described in the Judging Handbook¹. Careful consideration and interpretation is required when applying them to other categories of research project (e.g. History, Decision Making and Enterprise) where the balance of the various aspects may differ from that expected in 'traditional' science and technology fair projects.

The judging panel can receive up to 100 nominations in a typical year.
These are read thoroughly by the judges before the panel meeting, which takes place over a weekend in October.
At the meeting each project is discussed, and the above considerations are used to draw up a broad ranking.

A line is provisionally set at the number to be selected for Realise the Dream in that year. The panel then closely re-examines those projects initially ranked above and below the line to test and if necessary, reassign their placement. At this stage the panel also generally ranks the most clearly outstanding projects in preparation of the later Awards allocation at Realise the Dream.

In cases where selections of the judging panel are at variance with the rankings of a nominating organisation, the panel will attempt to contact the organiser or chief judge of the nominating organisation to obtain further information. However, the over-riding principle is that the panel's judgement must be based on the materials and information provided in the nomination. The nominator is responsible for ensuring that the submitted materials satisfy the specified criteria. RSNZ strongly recommends that the nominator assists the candidates with preparation of their video so that they present their work most effectively to the panel.

Animal and Human Ethics

If the exhibit or investigation involves animals please make sure that the proper ethical approval forms accompany the documentation. Please click here to view information regarding animal and human ethics.

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Realise The Dream Awards and Prizes

Realise the Dream awards are sponsored by various organisations and businesses.

The Awards Judging Panel therefore has the task of allocating the available awards so that:

Awards are made on merit and
The criteria set by sponsors are met

Awards are made on the basis of:

The ranking and overall impression gained during the original selection process in October/Novemberr;
Posters made by each student specifically for Realise the Dream, which are displayed at the event; and
The students presentation to the judges at the December event.
The amount of promotion the student has done between December and end of March may also be taken into account. E.g. number of talks to groups

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Conflicts of Interest

All judges are expected to act impartially at all times. Most members of the judging panels are inevitably associated with one or more of the contributing organisations.

To avoid conflict of interest in such a situation, the judge involved is required to state their conflict of interest and take a purely observational role: answering direct questions about the project, but not offering opinion or influencing the decision or consensus, which is made by the other panel members.

Disagreements, Enquiries and Protests

If an interested party disagrees with a decision of one of the judging panels (re. selection to Realise the Dream or allocation of an award), and wishes to follow up the matter, then

in most cases, the first approach is via an informal Enquiry to the RSNZ, usually by telephone call or by email. The RSNZ official and/or the Chief Judge will respond with an explanation, and the matter is usually resolved quickly through informal discussion by phone and email. If necessary other members of the judging panels may be included in the discussion.
Should the affected party remain unsatisfied, then a formal Protest may be made, in writing, to the RSNZ. Such a protest must include the reasons for disagreeing with the judges' decision. The RSNZ will use an independent mediator to review the protest, hold discussions with both parties, and report, in writing, with recommendations. This process should be conducted as speedily as possible. A copy of the report should be made available to both parties. The independent mediator may be a past Chief Judge of Realise the Dream, of a contributing National event, of a Regional Science and Technology Science Fair, a senior academic or a RSNZ official with experience and demonstrated interest in secondary school level education.

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¹ Judging Handbook, 2002 Genesis Energy Science and Technology Fair. Available from the Royal Society of New Zealand. Click here to view this document as a PDF