Ninth EU Contest for Young Scientists
The Award Ceremony of the Ninth EU Contest for Young Scientists took place in Milan, Italy, on 13 September 1997. In the presence of the Mayor of Milan, Mr. Gabriele Albertini, and Mr. Jorma Routti, Director-General of DG XII of the European Commission (Science, research and development), seven young scientists from Germany, Ireland and Switzerland were awarded the three first prizes of the contest. Three second prizes and six third prizes were also presented. The three first prizes of the competition, worth ECU 5,000 each, were awarded to the following research projects: - Unravelling the secrets of the preservation of Europe's "bog bodies" (Ireland - Fiona Fraser, Ciara McGoldrick, Emma McQuillan): research into the factors influencing the preservation of bodies discovered in European peat bogs; - The digestive system of carnivorous plants (Switzerland - Christoph Lippuner, Antoine Wuethrich): Study of the digestive processes of carnivorous plants; - Permanent self-conducting polymers (Germany - Eike Huegner): Development of a highly conductive stable polymer suitable for use in the micro-chip and space industries. A total of eighty finalists, from almost thirty countries, participated in the finals of the competition. Winners were selected by an international jury of twelve eminent scientists who interviewed the young scientists and evaluated their projects. Second prizes, worth ECU 3,000, were awarded to projects from Germany, Portugal and Russia. Third prizes (ECU 1,500) went to projects from Spain, France, Hungary, The Netherlands, Finland and the UK. The EU Young Scientist Contest is part of the Training and Mobility of Researchers (TMR) programme run by DG XII. Through this contest the European Commission intends to encourage and highlight young people's interest in science by inviting them to play an active part in the great research adventure of today. The 10th EU Contest for Young Scientists will be held in Porto, Portugal, on 21-26 September 1998.