First on the 2013 list
The Society for Science's page for the Intel Science Talent Search 2013 gives the top ten in order, and Sara Volz is first. That single placement is the whole of the documented result, and it is documented by the organisation that ran the competition, which makes it as solid as a result gets.
The research record compiled for this page describes the Science Talent Search as the top high-school science prize in the United States. The listing makes no such claim about itself; it publishes an order and leaves the ranking to speak for itself. Anyone tracing the 2013 result to its source will find a name in first position and not a word of explanation beside it.
The project that is not on the page
What a science competition is actually judging is the research, and the research is exactly what the published listing omits. There is no project title against Volz's name, no abstract, no field, no laboratory and no award amount.
The research record behind this page reports her work as biofuel research involving algae, and flags the description as unconfirmed. It is carried here on the same terms. Algae biofuel was a busy area of student and academic research in the early 2010s, which makes the description plausible, and plausible is not the same as documented. No source used for this page states what Volz built, measured or concluded.
The ten
The 2013 order, as published, runs: Sara Volz first, Jonah Kallenbach second, Adam Bowman third, Hannah Larson fourth, Peter Kraft fifth, Kensen Shi sixth, Samuel Zbarsky seventh, Brittany Wenger eighth, Akshay Padmanabha ninth and Sahana Vasudevan tenth.
Ten names is a small and pointed shortlist, and the ranking within it is unusual: most science prizes for students name a winner and leave the rest of the finalists unordered. Publishing places two through ten records a full set of judgements rather than one, which is why the 2013 list is quoted so often even though it says nothing about any of the projects behind it.
What the listing certifies
A results page certifies an outcome and a date. It establishes that a panel assembled by the Society for Science placed Volz first among the finalists of the 2013 search, and it establishes nothing else: not what she studied, not how old she was, not where she went to school, not what the prize was worth.
The page itself now sits within the Society's section for the Regeneron Science Talent Search, the name the programme carries today, with the 2013 edition filed under Intel's sponsorship. The archive is maintained, in other words, but it is maintained as a register of names. Competitions document their verdicts; they do not document careers, and the gap between those two things is where most confident writing about prize winners goes wrong.
Zwanzig Fragen, acht Minuten auf der Uhr und ein Perzentil, gemessen an allen bisherigen Teilnehmern. Ohne Anmeldung.
IQ-Test starten →What is documented — and what is not
The firm fact is one and it is clean: first place in the Intel Science Talent Search 2013, published by the Society for Science, ahead of a named field of ten.
Everything else is open. No age or date of birth, no school, no photograph, no project title, no abstract and no award amount appears in the source used here. Colorado Springs and the algae biofuel description come from the research record and are unconfirmed. Nothing documents what Volz has done since 2013, and this page will not guess at it.
Watch: Sara Volz on camera
| Person | Land | Meilenstein | Alter / Wert |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sara Volz | Vereinigte Staaten | Erster Platz, Intel Science Talent Search 2013 | — |
| Melissa Rey | Vereinigte Staaten | Großer Preis, 2008 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge | — |
| Jonah Kallenbach | Vereinigte Staaten | Zweiter Platz, Intel Science Talent Search 2013 | — |
| Victor Cai | Vereinigte Staaten | Zweiter Platz, 2022 Regeneron Science Talent Search | — |
| Amber K Luo | Vereinigte Staaten | Dritter Platz, 2022 Regeneron Science Talent Search | — |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- First place in the Intel Science Talent Search 2013 (Society for Science listing)
- The 2013 top ten is published in rank order, with ten named finalists
- Jonah Kallenbach is recorded second in the same list
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- No project title, abstract, field or award amount in the source
- The algae biofuel description comes from the research record and is unconfirmed
- No age, school, home town or photograph in the source
- Nothing is documented about Volz after 2013
Questions people ask about Sara Volz
What did Sara Volz win?
First place in the Intel Science Talent Search 2013, as published by the Society for Science in its ranked list of the top ten.
What was her project?
The published listing does not say. The research record compiled for this page reports algae biofuel research and marks it unconfirmed.
How old is Sara Volz?
No source in this record gives an age or a date of birth. The listing carries names and placings only.
Where is Sara Volz from?
The research record gives Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Society for Science listing gives no home town for any of the ten.
How much prize money did she receive?
No award amount appears in the source used here.
Who else was in the 2013 top ten?
In order: Volz, Jonah Kallenbach, Adam Bowman, Hannah Larson, Peter Kraft, Kensen Shi, Samuel Zbarsky, Brittany Wenger, Akshay Padmanabha and Sahana Vasudevan.
Where is Sara Volz now?
Not documented here. The published record stops at the 2013 placing, and no later reporting appears in this record.
Is Sara Volz on Wikipedia?
The research record lists no Wikipedia article for her, and no source used here points to one.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Volz’s story?
Where did Sara Volz place in the Intel Science Talent Search 2013?
How many winners does the published 2013 listing name?
What does the listing say about her project?
Sources
- Intel STS 2013 — top 10 winners — Society for Science
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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