And the winners are ...... from Germany, Spain and Switzerland

Moscow, 21 September 2005

At 13.00 on Wednesday, 21 September the waiting was finally over for more than 120 young scientists – 16 to 20 years old – from 35 countries gathered in Moscow at the Bauman University to compete in the 17th European Union Contest for Young Scientists. After judging the 78 projects exhibited there, the winners were called forward in a thrilling award ceremony that kept everyone in suspense until the very last minute. This year, first prizes went to teams from Germany, Spain and Switzerland for original projects in the areas of fluid dynamics, a possible new species in Gran Canaria and preventing urinary tract infections from catheters. (See attachment for details.)

The award ceremony was held in the beautiful Council Hall of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour complex. The prizes, worth a total of €28 500 were presented by Achilleas Mitsos, the European Commission’s Director-General for Research, together with Ulf Merbold, the President of the Jury, Alexander Fursenko, Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and Igor Fedorov, Rector of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, which hosted this year’s contest.

Addressing the young scientists and guests at the award ceremony Dr Mitsos noted that the Contest is not just about winning prizes, but it was also an occasion for the participants to add to their evident enthusiasm for science. He also underlined its role in bringing young people from different cultural backgrounds together to exchange experiences and friendship. These are very much the aims of the contest.

Next year’s contest will be held in Stockholm, hosted by the Swedish Federation for Young Scientists in collaboration with the Swedish Research Council and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

See also IP/05/1151 and MEMO/05/322

PRIZE-WINNERS

17th European Union Contest for Young Scientists

Because of the diversity of disciplines represented at the contest, it is impossible to determine one overall winner. So there is not just one first prize but three, along with three second prizes and three third prizes. In addition there are several special prizes: expenses-paid visits to the London International Youth Science Forum in 2006 and Stockholm International Youth Science Seminar (2005), to the European Patent Office and to EIROForum members.

FIRST PRIZES (€5 000 per project)
Country: Germany
Igor GOTLIBOVITCH
Age: 18
City/Region: München
School: Maria-Theresia-Gymnasium
Career intention: Physicist
Hobbies: Aikido, fitness, swimming

Renate LANDIG
Age: 19
City/Region: Bad Saulgau
School: Störck-Gymnasium
Career intention: Physicist
Hobbies: Playing the piano, fitness, riding, swimming Field: Physics Project title: Corners in water – unexpected symmetry breaking in fluid dynamics
Every day, when we run the kitchen tap, we see a “hydraulic jump” – where the water hits the basin it spreads out thinly, but a little further out the water level suddenly “jumps” and becomes much deeper. This project investigated the phenomenon under laboratory conditions, and found that under certain conditions the border between the shallow and the deep water was not circular but polygonal: the water had corners.

Country: Spain
Javier LÓPEZ MARTÍNEZ-FORTÚN
Age: 18
City/Region: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
School: Garoé School
Career intention: medicine doctor
Hobbies: padel, play guitar, football

Eliecer PÉREZ ROBAINA
Age: 18
City/Region: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
School: Garoé School
Career intention: psychology
Hobbies: basketball, music, messenger

Carlos MACHADO CARVAJAL
Age: 18
City/Region: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
School: Garoé School
Career intention: aeronautic engineer
Hobbies: radio, control cars, racquet
sports, DIY, table games Field: Biology Project title: Sonchus leptacaulis: a new species consolidation in Gran Canaria
The purpose of this research was to find out whether some plants discovered in 1998 belonged to a new category that had not yet been described. It also investigated whether similar specimens were to be found in other places around the Canary Islands.

Country: Switzerland
Silvana KONERMANN
Age: 17
City/Region: Zurich
School: Saechsisches Landesgymnasium
Sankt Afra
Career intention: neuroscientist
Hobbies: cello, dancing, painting Field: Medical Project title: Development of a system for the local prevention of catheter associated urinary tract infection
When Silvana’s grandmother went to hospital with a urinary tract infection, Silvana resolved to prevent it from happening again. Post-operative urinary tract infections are caused by the use of catheters, but the standard treatment (oral antibiotics) is often ineffective because a film develops on the catheter’s surface, protecting the bacteria. Silvana’s solution was to use a high-tech polymer to impregnate the catheter itself with antibiotics, which is also better for the patient.

SECOND PRIZES (€3 000 per project)

Country Name of contestant Age Field Title Czech Republic ZdenÄ›k JANOVSKÝ 19 Environment Vegetation dynamics of the small forest and open-landscape ponds and its historical causes Germany Stephen SCHULZ 19 Chemistry Lab on the chip – new perspectives with electrons as universal reagent Ireland Patrick COLLISON 17 Computer science Croma: a new dialect of lisp

THIRD PRIZES (€1 500 per project)

Country Name of contestant Age Field Title Denmark Gitte Ahlquist JONSSON 19 Medical Aid for putting on and taking off stockings for handicapped persons Estonia Margus NIITSOO 18 Mathematics Generalizations of the Fibonacci sequence Luxembourg Eric DELE 15 Biology Cartography of galls Pierre HAAS 16

HONORARY AWARDS

Stockholm International Youth Science Seminar 2005
to attend the 2005 Nobel Prize ceremonies, meet the Nobel Laureates and take part in a series of other scientific/cultural activities during the week.

Country Name of contestant Age Field Title Germany Igor GOTLIBOVITCH 18 Physics Corners in water – unexpected symmetry breaking in fluid dynamics Renate LANDIG 19 Switzerland Silvana KONERMANN 17 Medical Development of a system for the local prevention of catheter associated urinary tract infection

London International Youth Science Forum 2006
To meet young scientists from around the world and take part in the annual two-week intensive summer science festival during July-August 2006.

Country Name of contestant Age Field Title Spain Javier LÓPEZ MARTÍNEZ-FORTÚN 18 Biology Sonchus leptacaulis: a new species consolidation in Gran Canaria Eliecer PÉREZ ROBAINA 18 Carlos MACHADO CARVAJAL 18

SPECIAL DONATED PRIZES

There are eight special donated prizes: a five-day visit of a technical and cultural nature to the European Patent Office in Munich, and a one-week stay at each of the seven members of EIROforum: [1]

• CERN: The European Laboratory for Particle Physics
• EFDA: The European Fusion Development Agreement
• EMBL: The European Molecular Biology Laboratory
• ESA: The European Space Agency
• ESO: The European Southern Observatory
• ESRF: The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
• ILL: The Institut Laue-Langevin

The European Patent Office, Munich, Germany
A five-day visit of a technical and cultural nature to the European Patent Office in Munich

Country Name of contestant Age Field Title Austria Susanne CERNAK 16 Biology MiHyP – microbiological hydrogen production Felix FASCHINGER 18 Marcus METZ 20 Czech Republic Zuzana TVARÅ®ŽKOVA 18 Biology New possibilities to control fungal diseases of wheat and barley by use of plant extracts Germany Stephen SCHULZ 19 Chemistry Lab on the chip – new perspectives with electrons as universal reagent

EIROFORUM PRIZES

CERN: The European Laboratory for Particle Physics

Country Name of contestant Age Field Title Lithuania Gediminas KIRŠANSKAS 18 Physics Isospin in the theory of an atom

EFDA: The European Fusion Development Agreement

Country Name of contestant Age Field Title Lithuania Erikas GAIDAMAUSKAS 17 Physics Isospin in the theory of an atom

EMBL: The European Molecular Biology Laboratory

Country Name of contestant Age Field Title Israel Ronit SHAPIRA 18 Medicine The effect of dietary components on the dopamine mechanism in Parkinson’s disease

ESA: The European Space Agency

Country Name of contestant Age Field Title Poland Agata KARSKA 20 Physics The history of discovering and exploring BD+14° eclipsing contact binary

ESO: The European Southern Observatory

Country Name of contestant Age Field Title Bulgaria Petar Georgiev TODOROV 19 Physics The variable star RZ Cassiopeiae. Investigation of the hypothesis of a third companion

ESRF: The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility

Country Name of contestant Age Field Title Turkey Bilkan ERKMEN 18 Physics New methods in analyzing the propagation of light in moving media

ILL: The Institut Laue-Langevin

Country Name of contestant Age Field Title Turkey Serdar KARATEKIN 19 Physics New methods in analyzing the propagation of light in moving media

[1] EIROforum is a collaboration between seven European intergovernmental research organisations. As world leaders within their respective fields of science, the member organisations of the EIROforum constitute the vanguard of European science, enabling European scientists to engage in truly cutting-edge research and be competitive on a global scale.

Item source: IP/05/1174 Date: 21/09/2005 Previous Item Back to Titles Print Item