Prijsuitreiking jonge wetenschappers EU (en)

Europe's best young scientific minds met in Bratislava today for the 24th annual Awards Ceremony for the EU i Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS). The top three prizes went to teams from Ireland, Poland and Austria for projects in Physics, Chemistry and Engineering. Runners up were also recognised for their projects in areas as diverse as Physics, Computer science, Mathematics, Social sciences and Biology. This year, Canada won the International Prize for contestants from outside the EU with a project in Environment. This year's competition attracted 117 contestants aged 14 to 21, grouped in 79 projects, from 36 countries and EU schools.

European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn i said: "I congratulate all participants in this year's contest. The quality of entries is as always very high, and encouraging for the future of research in Europe. Past winners have gone on to prestigious careers in research, for instance at the European Space Agency i and CERN. Europe must continue to nurture its best brains if it wants to lead in the 21st century."

The projects were assessed by an international jury chaired by Maria Ana Viana-Baptista, professor of geophysics at Lisbon Engineering Institute (ISEL), and the panel included two past EUCYS winners. All entries had already won first prize in their country's respective national science contests in their specific field. The topics covered a broad spectrum of scientific areas: biology, physics, chemistry, computing, social sciences, environment, mathematics, materials, engineering and medicine.

Background

The European Union Contest for Young Scientists was set up by the European Commission in 1989 to encourage co-operation and interchange between young scientists and to give them an opportunity to be guided by some of Europe's most prominent researchers.

Through the contest, the EC i seeks to strengthen efforts made in participating countries to attract young people to careers in science and research.

Full details of this year's contest can be found at: http://www.media.eucys2012.eu/. All three first prize winning teams were awarded €7,000; second and third-placed teams received €5,000 and €3,500 respectively. Other prizes included trips to the London International Youth Science Forum and the Stockholm International Youth Science Seminar, prizes from corporate sponsors as well as awards from the European Commission's in house science service, the Joint Research Centre, pan-European research organisation group Eiroforum and the European Patent Office.

As well as the awards ceremony, the young scientists were able to display their projects at a four-day exhibition and take part in a number of workshops and side conferences.

More information about the contest and past winners can be found at: http://ec.europa.eu/research/youngscientists/index_en.cfm

Winners list 132 KB

Contact:

Michael Jennings, +32 229 633 88

Monika Wcislo +32 229 556 04