Research Mentorship for the Stockholm Junior Water Prize

By Dr. Harman Brah, MD · Judge, California Science & Engineering Fair

Research mentorship for the Stockholm Junior Water Prize means an experienced scientist helps a student sharpen the research question, check the statistics and push the Discussion section further. The student runs the project, takes the measurements and writes the paper, and the paper’s acknowledgements say plainly how much help there was.

That split matters more here than in most competitions. The judges read the paper closely, and one of their six scoring criteria asks directly who helped.

What the competition asks for

The US Stockholm Junior Water Prize is a research paper competition for students in grades 9 to 12 who will be 15 by August 1 of the competition year. Students enter alone or in teams of two, and they nominate themselves online for their state, so no science fair is required.

Projects should aim to improve water quality, water resources management, or water and wastewater treatment. They have to use accepted scientific methods for experiments, monitoring and reporting, and that includes statistical analysis.

At the national level, papers follow the Water Environment Federation’s National Paper Guidelines: no more than 20 pages, an abstract of at most 180 words, and a set order of sections from the Introduction through the Conclusions.

Where a mentor helps: the question

Relevance carries the most weight of the six national criteria. Judges ask whether the project targets an important water challenge and whether it could improve the environment or quality of life.

A mentor helps a student narrow a big concern, such as runoff, algae or drought, into one question the student can answer with real data. In our view, one clear question with a real result beats an ambitious project that never reaches one.

The guidelines push the same way. They ask students to show how the project contributes to a solution as well as describing the problem, and to address cause and effect.

Their own example: a survey of an over-fertilized lake on its own is weak. Adding the causes, and how monitoring could improve the lake’s management, makes it stronger.

Where a mentor helps: the statistics

Methodology is one of the six criteria, and statistical analysis is part of the entry requirements. From the judge’s side of the table, controls and honest statistics are where most projects lose points.

A mentor can ask the questions a judge will ask. How many samples? Compared to what? Is the difference bigger than the normal variation between samples?

A mentor can point the student toward a suitable test and check the reasoning. The student runs the analysis and has to be able to explain every choice in it.

Where a mentor helps: the Discussion

The National Paper Guidelines call the Discussion “an extremely important section which the judges pay close attention to.”

It should explain how the results matter to the water problem, how new they are, how they compare with other researchers’ results, and whether they could be useful to local or national agencies or to local people.

This is the section students most often rush. A mentor can read a draft and keep asking: Compared to whose results? Who could use this? What would you test next? The student writes the answers.

For an applied solution, the guidelines ask students to refer to earlier work and name the gap the project fills. For an awareness project, they want numbers, such as survey results. Both depend on reading the literature, which judges also look for.

What the student must do

The student owns the question, the data and the writing.

• Carry out the measurements.
• Run the analysis and understand it well enough to defend it.
• Write every section of the paper, including the abstract, which comes last.
• Read the literature and cite it. Plagiarism can mean disqualification.

The guidelines ask students to show clearly that they did the research and the writing. At nationals, judges weigh the paper along with how well the student’s video presentation shows they own and understand the project.

In our view, a project that looks parent- or mentor-built is seen through quickly. The student who can explain why each choice was made, without a script, is the one judges believe.

Acknowledgements state the help

The national paper includes an acknowledgements section, and the guidelines ask students to make clear how much outside help they received.

Write it specifically. Name who suggested the topic, who taught a lab technique, who reviewed the statistics and who read drafts. A vague line raises questions. A precise one answers them.

Practical Skills asks who helped

Practical Skills is one of the six weighted criteria. It asks what help came from parents, teachers and professionals, and whether the student carried out the measurements.

In our view, getting help is normal and leaving it out is the risk. When the acknowledgements, the paper and the student’s own explanation all tell the same story, the student’s part is easy to see.

Timing

In the 2026 cycle, state entries were due April 15, 2026. The 2027 dates were not posted as of late October 2026, so confirm them on wef.org.

That leaves fall and winter for settling the question and collecting data. WEF also encourages students to use the ISEF Rules Wizard to follow safe handling procedures.

Who mentors

Our mentors include Dr. Harman Brah, MD, a physician and judge at the California Science & Engineering Fair, and Wesley Hatcher, PhD (organic chemistry, UC San Diego), who has directed research mentorship for more than 100 UC San Diego undergraduates. They guide; the student does the work.

See how our research mentorship works, or read how to disclose outside help on the Regeneron STS application.

FAQ

Is my child allowed to have a mentor for the Stockholm Junior Water Prize?

Yes. The judging criteria themselves ask what help came from parents, teachers and professionals. The paper’s acknowledgements should say clearly how much outside help the student received.

Can a mentor write or edit the water prize paper?

A mentor can give feedback on the question, the statistics and the Discussion. The student writes the paper, and the guidelines ask students to show clearly that the research and the writing are their own.

Which part of the paper do the judges read most closely?

The national guidelines single out the Discussion: how the results matter to the water problem, how new they are, how they compare with other work, and who could use them. WEF also weighs the paper much more heavily than the poster.

Does my child need a university lab for a water research project?

No. Water quality, stormwater, runoff, sensors and computational water models can all fit, as long as the project uses real data and honest statistics.