An Online Research Conference for Young Scholars
Present your research. Defend your ideas. Receive thoughtful evaluation from independent human judges.
AI guides the questions. Human judges evaluate the work.
Important dates
A deeper research evaluation
Traditional student research conferences often evaluate a paper, poster, or brief presentation. At Axiom Symposium, middle and high school students also complete an oral research defense.
After presenting, students answer research-specific questions generated from their submitted work and presentation. The AI facilitates the questioning process; independent human judges evaluate the research, presentation, and demonstrated understanding. Human administrators make every award decision.
The path to results
Paper, slides, and abstract.
Up to 3 attempts, in-browser.
One attempt, adaptive questions.
3 independent reviews per project.
Verified certificates and recognition.
Why participate
You answer questions about your own methodology, results, and limitations — the way graduate researchers do.
Three independent judges score your work on a published 100-point rubric and write feedback you can act on.
Every result comes with a Research Defense Report and a certificate carrying a public verification ID.
Research categories
How the AI research defense works
The AI reads your paper, abstract, slides, and the transcript of your recorded presentation, then asks about methodology, assumptions, interpretation, limitations, and scientific reasoning — following up based on what you say.
AI · Adaptive
"You reported an F1 score of 0.82. Why F1 instead of accuracy?"
You
"The classes were imbalanced, so accuracy would have been misleading about the minority class."
AI · Follow-up
"Suppose the classes had been perfectly balanced. Would F1 still be your preferred metric?"
5 core questions · ~6–10 minutes · recorded video + transcript · one attempt only.
Judging rubric · 100 points
3 independent judges per project. Original reviews are never overwritten. Awards are a human administrator decision.
Recognition
Every certificate carries a verification ID at /verify — link it from applications and résumés.
The judging panel
Each project is assigned 3 judges matched on expertise, with conflicts of interest excluded. Judges see your materials, your presentation, and your defense transcript — never other judges' scores.
Where judges disagree substantially, the discrepancy is flagged for administrative review before any award is decided.
Interested in judging? Contact the conference office to request a judge account.
Frequently asked questions
No. The AI conducts the oral defense and records the transcript. Human judges score the work, and administrators make every award decision.
Three attempts for your recorded presentation, and one attempt for the AI research defense. If a genuine technical failure occurs, an administrator can reset it.
A laptop or desktop with a webcam, microphone, and stable internet. The dashboard works on mobile, but recording should be done on a computer.
Only you, your assigned judges, and administrators. Nothing is published publicly unless you and an administrator both enable it.
Yes. Coauthors and mentors are recorded with your submission, but the presentation and defense must be completed by the registered student.