Europe's best young scientists honoured by EU in Norwegian ceremony
Some 32 young European scientists have been honoured in the 13th contest for young scientists, which took place on 18 to 21 September in Bergen, Norway. Three first prizes of 5,000 euro went to projects from Austria, Germany and the UK which focused on treatment of skin disease, cloud observations and drug resistance in yeast. The presentation was made by European Commission research Director-General Dr Achilleas Mitsos in the company of Norway's Crown Prince Haakon. The winners were selected by an international jury which chose the projects from a shortlist of 65. The jury president, Professor Pauline Slosse, said: 'This year more than ever before the quality of the projects was such that we had a very difficult task.' Dr Mitsos said that although the competition had shown there are some excellent young European scientists, the challenge was encourage more young people into scientific careers. '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,' he said. The contest, organised as part of the 'Improving human potential' programme within the Fifth EU Framework Programme, aims to showcase the work of Europe's best young scientists and help to reverse a decline in interest in the area. Some 30,000 young scientists participate each year. As well as gaining cash prizes, some prize winners are chosen to represent the European Union at international events.