13th European Union Contest for Young Scientists

Prize List

Pictures

Friday 21 September Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and Dr Achilleas Mitsos, Director-General at the European Commission DG Research, awarded three first prizes of € 5 000 to four students from Austria, Germany and the United Kingdom at the 13th EU Contest for Young Scientists. The top three projects selected deal with the treatment of skin diseases, cloud observations and drug resistance in yeast. The research achievements of a further 28 students were also recognised by an international jury who judged the 65 high quality projects presented by 95 young people coming from 35 countries across the world.

The award ceremony took place in the King Haakon's Hall in the presence of three Nobel Laureates. In addition to the first prizes, three second prizes of € 3 000 and three third prizes of € 1 500 were also awarded (see attachment). The Jury also designated prize winners to represent the EU at several international events and to join established research teams for short periods of scientific training. Furthermore, three former EU Contest Prize winners awarded their own Alumni Prize.

In awarding the prizes, Dr Mitsos noted that: "The projects competing this year have once again shown that Europe has a great reservoir of young scientists and therefore huge resources. The main difficulty today is probably to encourage young people to take up the challenge of a career in science and technology."

Said Professor Pauline Slosse, President of the jury: "It is always a great pleasure to meet so many gifted and enthusiastic young people, and to discover the originality of their projects and the breadth of their science. This year more than ever the quality of the projects was such that we had a difficult task. I am sure they will remember this fantastic experience which allowed them to meet and establish long-lasting contacts with young scientists from all over Europe and beyond."

The EU Contest for Young Scientists is now unanimously considered as the annual showcase of the best scientific achievements of European students. Only projects that have won a top prize in a national young scientist competition can compete at the EU Contest. Thus, the Contest represents the ultimate goal for more than 30,000 young science students who participate annually in the national contests.

An EU Investment: The EU Contest is part of the European Union's programme "Improving Human Potential" which aims at developing Europe's knowledge potential through greater support for training and mobility of researchers. The Contest is one of the EU's activities aimed at combating the current decline of young people's interest for science studies and careers.

The 14th EU Contest for Young Scientists will take place in Vienna, Austria, in September 2002.

The European Union (EU) Contest for Young Scientists, an initiative of the European Commission, was set up to promote the ideals of cooperation and interchange between young scientists. The Contest is the annual showcase of the best of European student scientific achievement and as such attracts widespread media interest.

13th EU Contest: This year the 13th EU Contest took place in Bergen, Norway from 15-22 September 2001. The exhibition of the projects was in Grieghallen and the prize award ceremony was held in King Haakon's Hall on Friday 21 September. His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon of Norway was patron of the 13th EU Contest and awarded the prizes during the ceremony together with the Director-General for Research at the European Commission Dr. Achilleas Mitsos. The first EU Contest took place in Brussels in 1989. Since then, the event has been hosted in Copenhagen, Zürich, Seville, Berlin, Luxembourg, Newcastle upon Tyne, Helsinki, Milan, Porto, Thessaloniki and Amsterdam.

Saturday
• Arrivals
• Welcome

Sunday
• Full-day Excursion

Monday
• Stand set-up
• EU Contest Lecture

Tuesday
• Official Opening
• Jury Interviews

Wednesday
• Exhibition Day
• Jury Interviews

Thursday
• Jury Interviews
• Nobel Minds
• Grieg-Concert
• Quest

Friday
• Award Ceremony
• Banquet

Saturday
• Departure