Estonia hosted the 29th European Union Contest of Young Scientists from 22-27 September 2017 in Tallinn.
The Contest, which takes place every year in a different European city, is one of the core initiatives of the European Commission to support students interested in science and technology, to foster their talents and to make science more appealing to young people. EUCYS is part of the Science with and for Society activities managed by the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission. Within Horizon 2020, Science with and for Society aims to build a more harmonious relationship between scientific endeavour and the European Society at large.
EUCYS was supported by public institutions and private partners including the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, the City of Tallinn, PRACE, the Salvetti Foundation, the Biobased industries bioeconomy, FoodDrinkEurope bioeconomy, Pepsico, Danone, DSM,Wolfram, EuCheMs, Intel ISEF, Joint Research Centre and the EIROforum including the CERN: The European Laboratory for Particle Physics, EUROFusion, EMBL: The European Molecular Biology Laboratory, ESRF: The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, ESA: European Space Agency, ESO: European Southern Observatory, ILL: The Institute Laue-Langevin, XFEL: The European X-ray Free-Electron Laser Facility GmbH which contributed in different ways to the success of this edition.
146 contestants aged 14-20 selected in 37 countries and the European Schools attended the event and showcased the results of the 89 projects at an exhibition held within SpaceX events centre in Ülemiste City in Tallinn.
The parallel programme organised for the participants offered a science conference conducted by EIROForum and a discussion round from former participants of EUCYS; visits to the Maritime Museum, the Energy Discovery Centre, the Estonian Art Museum KUMU, and Tallinn Old Town guided tours.
Thanks to the implementation of a well-planned communication strategy the general public, as one of the core target groups, was engaged in science and technology which lead to increase public awareness of science development. Thus, by organizing the 29th EUCYS 2017, the project contributed to raise interest of young students in science and raise of public understanding of science and technology which are the long-term goals of the European Research Area in general.
The Contest was open to the public from Sunday 24th till Monday 25th of September. Approximately 1000 visitors visited during the Open Days te exhibition of EUCYS and took part in the additional activities.
EUCYS promotion to schools and to the large public was intensified on the Estonian National Contest held in April 2017 and continued till September 2017. An extensive media campaign was carried out in Tallinn City in September.
