Young science enthusiasts who want to follow in the footsteps of Albert Einstein and Marie Curie may test their skills by participating in a global online science competition.
Web search engine Google, in partnership with the European nuclear research organisation Cern, the Lego Group, National Geographic and Scientific America, are hosting the world’s first global online science competition.
Called the Google Science Fair, the objective of the competition is “to encourage and support young people in their scientific efforts”, according to Julie Taylor, Google’s communication and public affairs manager for sub-Saharan Africa. Taylor said that the founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, also experimented. “They had a hypothesis that there was a better way to find information on the web and were fortunate to be able to get their idea in front of lots of people.”
She said that many ideas are lost because [most] young people do not have the right forums to share their discoveries with the world.
“We believe that science can change the world and one way to encourage this notion is to celebrate and champion young scientific talent in the same way that athletes and pop idols are celebrated and idolised,” said Taylor.
The competition is open to learners between the ages of 13 and 18. They may build and submit their projects online either individually or in a team of up to three. All that is required is access to a computer, the internet and a web browser.
Learners need to create their own project site with a unique URL and should provide a summary in the form of a video, slide presentation, spreadsheets and photos. Registration is open until April 4 2011. Semi-finalists will be announced in early May. Taylor said the projects of the semi-finalists will be posted on Google’s online gallery and the public will be invited to vote for a “people’s choice” winner.
Fifteen finalists will be selected to take their projects to Google’s headquarters in California in the US in early July to compete in a final live event at which world-renowned science judges will select a winner in each category and a grand prizewinner, Taylor said.
Prizes include “once-in-a-lifetime experiences” such as a trip to the Galapagos Islands with a National Geographic explorer, scholarships and real-life work opportunities like a five-day trip to Cern in Switzerland.
Entrants may submit projects under the following categories:
Computer Science and Mathematics;
Earth and Environmental Sciences;
Behavioural and Social Sciences;
Flora and Fauna;
Energy and Space;
Inventions and Innovation;
Physics;
Biology;
Chemistry;
Food Science;
Electricity and Electronics.
Visit www.youtube.com/googlesciencefair for instructions on how to enter the competition. For sample submissions, go to https://sites.google.com/site/tescasgsfsample/home. Information and resources for teachers are available on www.google.com/events/sciencefair/teachers.html