u/Full-Maintenance7513

Hey I am from India but I live in Saudi and i have checked the affiliated fair in Saudi and they said you need to be a Saudi citizen to participate in affiliated fair in Saudi and in order to participate I need to go to my home country and i contacted the affiliated fair in my home country and they said I cant participate from my home country too as I dont study there and now I am stuck and dont know how to participate can anyone please give me some guidance, or any alternative way i can participate

Hi everyone,

I'm a high school student currently living and studying in Saudi Arabia, but I am not a Saudi national . I'm very interested in participating in the Regeneron ISEF and have been working on a project in the engineering/assistive tech space.

I understand that the main pathway to ISEF in Saudi Arabia is through the Ibdaa National Olympiad for Scientific Creativity, organized by Mawhiba and the Ministry of Education. However, the official Ibdaa eligibility criteria state that participants must be "Saudi intermediate or secondary school students".

My questions are:

1. Are expatriate students in Saudi schools eligible to participate in Ibdaa? If not, is there any alternative pathway through Mawhiba for expats?
2. Are there any other ISEF-affiliated fairs in Saudi Arabia that accept non-Saudi students? I've only found information about Ibdaa.
3. If the Saudi pathway is closed to me, what are my alternatives? I've read that students in Mainland China have multiple pathways (Sichuan, Shanghai, Chongqing). Does anything similar exist in the Gulf region? Or would I need to pursue qualification through my home country's ISEF-affiliated fair?
4. Does anyone have experience with ISEF participation as an expat student in the Middle East? How did you navigate the eligibility requirements?

Additional Context:

• I am in Grade 11 and currently reside in Saudi Arabia.
• I'm willing to build my project regardless of the outcome, but I want to understand my realistic pathways to ISEF.
• I have already emailed Mawhiba for clarification but wanted to ask the community for insights as well.

Any advice, personal experiences, or guidance on alternative pathways would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you.