Our Vision

Science Olympiad at the University of Florida is a non-profit student organization dedicated to inspiring creative problem solving, STEM literacy, and love for learning for all ages (K-12) through its annual tournaments. Our tournaments are led and run by an experienced group of Science Olympiad Alumni who have supervised events for invitational tournaments across the country and have medaled at the state and national level. We strive to provide a quality tournament experience for our competitors and to offer STEM outreach opportunities for the UF student body.

Our Organization

History: UFSO was founded in August 2017 with the purpose of replacing the Northern Florida regional tournament that was previously held at Florida Gateway College. Since our initial beginnings, UFSO has successfully run 6 regional tournaments and 1 state tournament for over 3,500 middle and high school students.

Organization Status: UFSO is defined as a Student Group under the University of Florida and we are a chapter member of Florida Science Olympiad, INC. The Directors sit on the Florida Science Olympiad Board and serve as active voting members of the organization. As a member of Florida Science Olympiad, we are designated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Leadership: Unlike the structure of the majority of regional and state tournament venues, UFSO is led by an Executive Board composed of students at the University of Florida that are distinguished alumni competitors of Science Olympiad. The President(s) are the leaders of the organization, while the Regional Directors are the leaders of the regional tournament. The President(s) also hold the title of State Tournament Director in accordance with conventional terminology used by Florida Science Olympiad.

Volunteers and Supervisors: UFSO does not maintain a general body of members to run tournaments. Instead, we primarily recruit event supervisors and volunteers from the student body at the University of Florida and occasionally from outside of Florida. Our supervisors and volunteers are hand selected to ensure they are qualified and have the necessary experience to effectively run events.

Our Tournaments

North Florida Regional Tournament

• The tournament will be held in-person at Buchholz High School on Saturday February 24th, 2024.

Florida State Tournament

On Saturday April 6th, 2024, we will be hosting the 24th annual Florida State Tournament. Key features of our tournament include:

• The tournament will be held in-person at the University of Florida.
• All 23 Division B and C events will run in accordance with the National Science Olympiad Inc. rules. Additional Trial Events will also be run, and teams are encouraged to participate in these events
• Tests will be written and run by University of Florida students and professors, many of whom were past competitors. Current executive board members will also proctor all events. Science Olympiad alumni from other states may also be invited to supervise events based on past achievements at Invitational and National tournaments.
• All exams undergo a revisions process by our E-Board for consistency, appropriate difficulty spread, and content relevance.
• Coaches will not be required to run any events or otherwise volunteer for the tournament.

About Science Olympiad

Structure

Teams of up to 15 students compete in 23 unique events ranging across physics, chemistry, earth space science, biology and engineering. 

Types of Events 

Lab-based: Students use their knowledge of chemistry, physics, coding, and/or biology to conduct a series of laboratory experiments and trials. Students will also use critical-thinking skills to maneuver unique perspectives throughout the process.

Research-based: Students will research a topic in detail and take an exam based on the material outlined in the rules. These exams emphasize out-of-the-box thinking and synthesis of ideas and concepts

Inquiry: Students will refine their knowledge of essential practices within scientific research, such as the scientific method, teamwork skills, methodology analysis and construction, and written communication

Pre-built: Students will construct a device that is teste during the day of competition. The device is to be continuously refined by students to maximize efficiency to earn a higher score.

List of Events: For more information about events, please visit the national website here.