Thirteen Stuyvesant seniors were named semifinalists in the 2012 Intel Science Talent Search Competition (STS), according to a list published by the Society for Science and The Public on Wednesday, December 10. Stuyvesant had more semifinalists than any other school in the nation had, though Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and The Harker School came close with 11 semifinalists apiece.

“Stuyvesant always does pretty well, but this year we’ve done much better than many times in the recent past,” said Dr. Jonathan Gastel, who teaches the Intel research course for Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Psychology. Stuyvesant produced five semi-finalists in 2011, nine in 2010, and 10 in 2009.

The Intel STS competition, which is run by Society for Science and the Public, is America’s oldest high school science contest and is one of the most prestigious contests in the nation. Students must submit independent research projects in science and mathematics for review by professionals in their fields of study. The competition considers the research project itself, as well as each applicant’s academic record and essay submission in order to determine those who will be recognized.

From the 1,839 applicants for the 2012 competition, 300 semi-finalists were chosen. Each semifinalist receives a prize of $1,000, and his or her school receives $1,000 to invest in math, science, and engineering programs. Forty of the semifinalists will be named finalists on Wednesday, January 25, and go to Washington D.C. to present their work for final judging.

This year, Stuyvesant seniors Edward Cho, Angela Fan, Ian Grant, Yuebi Hu, Brian Kim, Robert Kim, Jeremy Majerovitz, Nicholas Rivera, Melissa Seto, Daniel Swift, Lucy Tan, Meisze Yau, and Mimi Yen were among the 300 semifinalists named.

Gastel attributes this success in part to “increased opportunities for [students] to begin designing and learning how to do experiments at a younger age.” These include making the Intel research class available to sophomores and making lower-level research classes available to freshmen.

The semifinalists are thrilled to be officially recognized for their work, though many were surprised by the news of their award.

“I still don’t believe it,” said senior and semifinalist Edward Cho, whose project was titled “Let There Be No Light! ESR Dating of Quartz from the Bytham River Palaeochannel.” “I’ve been working on this project for over a year now, and it feels extremely good to be recognized. The last year and a half really had meaning.”

While Dr. Gastel shares his students’ excitement, he is disappointed that more students were not recognized in the competition. “There are so many people in this class who participated successfully in the research. Almost everyone really deserves recognition and respect,” he said.