ASTA iCubed Award Rules

1. Entry deadline

All entries must be submitted in full to ASTA via the online entry system by the Entry Deadline.  In 2025, the Entry Deadline is midnight, Friday, 17 November, 2025(AEST).  Received entries will be acknowledged by a confirmation email.

If you experience problems uploading your entry or have concerns about what has been uploaded, contact ASTA on prior to the Entry Deadline. Late entries will be considered on a case by case basis.

2. Eligibility

2.1  Citizenship / Residency

All Entrants must be a) an Australian citizen, b) an Australian permanent resident, or c) a New Zealand citizen residing in Australia, at the time the activity entered was undertaken.

2.2  STA nomination

The submitted project must have been nominated by a Science Teachers Association after successful entry into their state/territory competition in the same year.

2.3  Rights of acknowledgement as an entrant

Entrants may publicly state (e.g., in their CV, publicly available biography, Wikipedia page etc.) that they are an ASTA iCubed Awards Finalist / Winner. However, in each case, the reference must include the full prize name alongside the specific year the entrant/s were selected as a finalist and/or winner.

3. Submissions

3.1  Consent

Entry forms must be submitted by an adult who has oversight of the project and has the consent of the students and their parent/caregiver to share information with ASTA. The submitting adult is responsible for ensuring that the project satisfies the rules for entry.

3.2  Group entries

Entries may be submitted by teams of students. A team can consist of no more than three members. If teams comprise students from different age categories, the project needs to be entered according to the highest age in the group.

3.3  Plagiarism

Entries must be the student’s own work. It is the responsibility of the adult submitting the form to ensure that the project is the work of the identified student or team. References used for background research should be listed in a bibliography. Students may receive support; however, all support must be clearly stated in an Acknowledgements list.

3.4  Intellectual property

The student retains all intellectual property. Every effort will be made to protect the intellectual property of students, however, it is the students’ responsibility to ensure that submitting the project does not contradict any other intellectual property or non-disclosure requirements, including but not limited to those relating to patents, academic institutions, companies, or other competitions. ASTA will not be held responsible for any breaches to such restrictions. Entrants accept that any information they supply to the ASTA iCubed Awards as part of the entry process might affect the outcome of any patent application and that the ASTA is not liable for any failed patent application or the consequences arising from such.

4. Judging

4.1  Judging criteria

Judges will assess entries against the assessment criteria published on the ASTA website. The deliberations of the judging panel remain confidential. 
All recommendations and decisions taken are binding and final and no correspondence will be entered into on such matters.  Any enquiries relating to the judging of a project must be made in writing to Australian Science Teachers Association, Level 14, 275 Alfred St, North Sydney NSW 2060.

The judges reserve the right not to award an ASTA iCubed Award if, in their view, the quality of entries is insufficiently meritorious when reviewed against the assessment criteria.

4.2  Conflict of interest

Members of the organising committee, judges and sponsors must not judge any project or participate in any decision relating to a matter where they have a conflict of interest.

Sources of conflict can include:

• A familial or other close personal relationship eg. living in the same household, child of a close friend
• A teacher/student relationship (including a student at the same school, but different class)
• A mentoring relationship
• A personal or business relationship with a sponsor
• Previous exposure to the entry (eg. at a school or regional fair).

5. Ethics and safety

Projects involving animals must meet animal welfare guidelines within their jurisdiction.

If a student’s experimentation or testing involves interaction with human subjects (e.g. measuring human activity, in-depth questionnaires, surveys), approval must be given by an ethics committee constituted at their school. Students must provide evidence of the written consent of each subject and their parents/guardians (if the subject is less than 18 years old). Care must be taken to ensure the anonymity of each subject in all submitted documentation.

Projects involving potentially hazardous biological agents, chemicals, activities or devices, must satisfy the requirements for chemical safety in schools (CSIS). Documentation should be included in the log book

For projects involving firearms, heavy machinery or transportation, students must provide evidence of a permit to use such equipment or of supervision by an adult with a permit. Entries must be in line with State and Federal laws and regulations.
If a student conducts any part of their experimentation at a laboratory outside the school, written approval must be obtained from that facility and documented in their entry.

Details of ethics approvals associated with any data being used (including permission to share with students) should also be included. Identifying details are permitted for this purpose.

6. Prizes

6.1  Prize categories

ASTA reserves the right to alter categories and the amounts or number of prizes awarded without notice.  ASTA reserves the right to move projects between categories where required.

6.2  Prize payment

The prize money to be awarded to the winner of each prize will be paid via bank transfer as per the instructions provided to the ASTA administration team via the winner payment form completed by the winner. If the winner is a team the prize money will be split between the team members.

7. Costs and expenses

There is no entry fee associated with entering the ASTA iCubed Awards.
You (including your team, if applicable) enter the ASTA iCubed Awards at your own risk and the ASTA iCubed Awards, and associated prize partners will not be liable for any loss, damage or expense incurred by the entrant(s) as a result of entering the Prizes.

8. Privacy policy

All information will be stored in alignment with ASTA’s privacy policy, noting the following:

• The consent of the student and their parents/caregivers is required before sharing projects. The adult submitting the form is responsible for ensuring this consent is received
• Information shared with ASTA will be stored in online databases that may include third-party providers (eg MailChimp)
• We may share the information we collect from you with ASTA employees and contractors, the judging panels, or the prize partners, so that we can:
  manage the program research, assess, monitor and analyse the program and related activities.