Winners of the 25th annual EU Contest for Young Scientists awarded

126 promising young European scientists, from 14 to 21, met in Prague today for the 25th annual EU Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) and presented their projects in the hope of impressing an international jury. T

he winners shared a total of €54.500 in prize money, as well as other prizes such as science trips. The three first prizes of €7000 each were awarded to Perttu Pölönen from Finland for “Music A’ Clock”, Ciara Judge, Emer Hickey and Sophie Healy-Thow from Ireland for “A statistical investigation of the effects of diazotroph bacteria on plant germination” and Frederick Turner from the United Kingdom for “Genetics at home: Building a PCR machine and other equipment for setting up a home genetics lab”. The three second prizes were given to projects from Austria, Germany and Switzerland, and the three third prizes to projects from Hungary, Germany and Belarus.

All entries had already won first prize in their country’s respective national science contests in their specific field. The project topics covered a broad spectrum of scientific areas: biology, physics, chemistry, computing, social sciences, environment, mathematics, materials, engineering and medicine.

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