<p>So I'm currently doing research about nano particles that can be used to treat cancer, and I'm hoping to submit it to these science fairs, but I just saw that someone else already did similar research and won the Siemens competition. I didn't realize that before starting my project, and I'm not sure exactly what she did or how she did it, but does this pretty much eliminate my chances?</p>
<p>Thanks </p>
<p>Bump</p>
<p>It depends on how specific your research is. Science/math research can be very specific and also very broad, so you could do similar research as the winner, but go into much more depth on certain aspects. I’m not sure if I’ve done the best job in explaining…for example, computer science. You could do research in computer science, and so could someone else, and you could both say that the work was similar. But you could’ve done cryptography, and she could’ve done programming. Or maybe she also did cryptography, but she did research on building another Enigma and you created encryption algorithms. Or let’s say that you both worked on encryption algorithms, but you did security encryption and she did block cipher algorithms. All these topics are very similar, but completely different in judges’ eyes.
And not to forget: a couple hundred thousand kids do these competitions every year. There is bound to be a repeat in topics, but what really matters is what your results say. So unless you are working on a problem-solution type of research, and the solution has already been found, then you’re fine.</p>
<p>Bump</p>
<p>I suggest that you look for the paper that was submitted and if any research over laps that is that.<br>
If so, and you have enough time, try to write a paper taking a different approach to the problem you are solving, this makes you show novelty and improvements, that’s what a true scientist does.</p>