Science Olympiad
Protein Photobooth
Show off your protein model and help build a tool that gives students instant feedback while they fold.
Students
Competing in Protein Modeling or Protein Builders? Enter here.
Event Supervisors
Share your scores and feedback to help improve the event!
Teams competing in Division B Protein Builders and Division C Protein Modeling can take 5 photos of their model on the Protein Photobooth bandana and upload them here. Each week, we randomly draw one team submission to win a $50 Amazon gift card.
Your photos help 3D Molecular Designs train two apps. The Protein Student Training App will give students feedback as they fold protein models. The Protein Educator Assessment App will help educators and judges score models quickly and consistently.
About the research
Free-form models like Modeling Ties help students understand protein structure, but they offer no built-in feedback. That makes it hard for educators to closely review every model, especially with large groups. This project uses machine learning and object detection to evaluate student-folded models and provide feedback immediately.
During the 2026–2027 Science Olympiad season, we are developing both apps with models from the Protein Modeling and Protein Builders events. Next year, we will study how easy the apps are to use, how accurately they score models, and how much students learn from real-time feedback.
Research is supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number 2R44GM154526. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.