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Calling all young Einsteins, Newtons

New Czech science contest is currently taking applications

By Curtis M. Wong
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
May 23rd, 2007 issue

Jan Přerovský/THE PRAGUE POST
Iva Sladká oversees the Czech Small Heads contest, which is open to high schoolers.
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CZECH SMALL HEADS

What: Five-category contest in natural and technical science
When: Application deadline for Abraxan category, May 31; June 30 for all other categories; winners announced in October
Who: Contest open to high-school, junior-high and elementary-school students
Web: www.ceskahlava.cz
E-mail: sladka@ceskahlava.cz
Tel.: 267 311 032

Science-minded Czech teens will soon be offered a running start at becoming the next Stephen Hawking or Albert Einstein — with a little help from a new nationwide contest.
From now until the end of June, the first annual Czech Small Heads contest is offering some lucky students a chance at cash awards in recognition of outstanding achievements in the fields of natural and technical sciences.
Launched by the Education Ministry in February, Czech Small Heads — or České hlavičky — was conceived as a teen-focused counterpart to the Czech Head (Česká hlava) contest, which recognizes adult achievements in science and technology. Originally, young adults could enter the Naděje, or Hope, category of the original contest. Due to the category’s overwhelming popularity, organizers decided to establish an independent youth-oriented event, says contest spokesman Vrastislav Kopačka.
“Apart from providing the student scientists with money, we are also constantly trying to promote new studies in this field,” Kopačka says. “These students are hard-working and reputable, and they deserve special recognition for their efforts.”
More than anything, the contest seeks to promote future studies in the realm of technical and natural sciences for teenagers and young adults — a task that’s often easier said than done, Kopačka says.
“Successful scientific research requires not only financial resources, but top-quality human resources as well,” Kopačka adds. “Unfortunately, the number of students interested in studying technical and natural sciences has been rapidly declining. That’s why we need to encourage young people to become interested in science again — to re-introduce the scientific field as something cool and worth focusing on, maybe even as a potential career path.”
Czech Small Heads is divided into five prize categories, each with a different scientific emphasis. At 50,000 Kč ($2,409), the Merkur Award is by far the highest honor, given to the student whose project shows superior achievement in the technical and natural sciences with an emphasis on economics. Winners of the remaining categories will each receive prizes of 25,000 Kč: Futura, for greatest achievement in technology and innovations; Ingenium, for communication; and Genus, for health and the environment. All high-school students are eligible to enter the contest, but the Abraxan category is especially designed for younger students and has an age limit of 15.
The application deadline for the Abraxan category is May 31. The deadline for submissions in the other four categories is June 30. The winners of all categories will be announced at the end of October at a press conference in Brno.
Michaela Taschnerová, a spokeswoman with the Education Ministry, agrees, adding that the goal of contest organizers is to discover and nurture new talent in the science field.
Although he did not comment on the details of any specific projects, Kopačka says he has already received an enthusiastic response from students across the Czech Republic, with nearly 20 contestants making submissions since the contest was announced in February.
“We’ve already seen some really interesting submissions and some interesting projects with surprising results,” he says. “It’s already clear that it won’t be easy for our judges to decide on the winners.”
Each contestant will be judged by an eight-member panel led by Stanislava Hronová, vice president of the University of Economics in Prague. Other panel members include Czech TV journalist Vladimir Kořen, Blanca Říhová, director of the Microbiology Institute at the Czech Academy of Sciences, as well as former Czech Head winner Zdeněk Herman.
In addition to the contest, contestants are invited to attend “The Night of Scientists,” a September science-related event in Brno that is being supported by the European Union. They can also participate in Science in the Streets, a festival that kicks off in Prague in June, and will then travel to Plzeň, west Bohemia, in September and Brno, south Moravia, in October, which will coincide with the announcement of the winners. Once the results are announced, founders say they are hoping to start the Small Heads Club, which will support scientific studies and education for high school students through workshops and seminars. The club’s first meeting is tentatively planned for December.
The contest is being sponsored by the Czech Head Association, the University of Economics in Prague, the Education Ministry, the Association for Youth, Science and Technics and the Coalition to Support Talented Czech Kids.
Guidelines for contest submissions are flexible — eligible projects must simply deal with a technical aspect of science in some way — and contestants can enter either individually or as a team.
 — Hela Balínová contributed to this report.

Curtis M. Wong can be reached at specialsection@praguepost.com


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