Score

From FoldIt Wiki

Score is the attribute that we're all trying to maximize. Little is generally known, however, about the way that a puzzle's score is actually calculated. Information about this formula would be greatly welcome!

One treatment of Rosetta@Home scoring can be found here (PDF). It is unknown whether FoldIt scoring works precisely the same way, but it seems likely that the differences can't be too great.

[edit] Official Statements on Player Ranks

On July 23, 2008, Admin (one of the main FoldIt administrators and player liaisons) gave the following formula on the FoldIt forums:

Points = Max(1, Ceil(( 1 - (Rank - 1)/(NumPlayers - 1) )^7 * 100))

This formula gives the number of points that each player (and presumably each team, though this is unknown) will earn at the end of a puzzle, based on his/her/their rank when the puzzle closes. These rank points are distinct from and not directly related to Score points.