The SciChallenge contest is aiming at young people, who are interested in NATURAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING or MATHEMATICS.

If you are either between 10 to 14 years (Age Group 1) OR 15 to 20 years old (Age Group 2), you can participate in the contest.

You can choose between participating alone, or you can work together with one or two of your friends or schoolmates. A group is limited to three persons.

Limitations for Age Group 1: If you are younger than 14 years old, you have to inform your parents or your legal guardian about your participation and get their approval, when you are registering for the contest.

Limitations for Age Group 2: If you are already enrolled at a university, you cannot participate in SciChallenge.

A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE

Step 1: Let your imagination run free!
Step 2: Choose a topic from one of the 50 topic sheets or select an Open STEM-topic
Step 3: Always keep in mind that the selected topic has to be approached from one of the following fields: Natural Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics
Step 4: Discuss your participation with your parents or your teacher
Step 5: Prepare a POSTER, a VIDEO or a PRESENTATION
Step 6: Upload it to Slideshare or Youtube between the 1st of January and 15th of May 2017 and include the #scichallenge2017 in the title and description
Step 7: Register for the contest on www.scichallenge.eu and submit your contribution
Step 8: Show it to your friends and motivate them to participate in SciChallenge
Step 9: Gather as many likes, views and reactions as possible
Step 10: With a bit of luck you will be selected as one of the 12 pan-European winners, who win a trip to Vienna as well as additional prizes
Step 11: Participate at the big Award Ceremony and present your work in front of an international audience!

The contributions have to clearly cover one of the STEM fields:

• Natural Science
• Technology
• Engineering
• Mathematics

The theme of the applications might be chosen from the 50 Topic Sheets, which are accessible through the SciChallenge platform. These 1-page Topic Sheets provide basic information about a particular topic, societal challenges related to the issue and support for participants – allowing a quick start for their projects.

One half of the Topic Sheets is aiming at young people between 10 to 14 years and are available in 10 different languages. The other half of the topic sheets is aiming at young people between 15 and 20 years and is available in English only.

Starting with the topic sheets, the participants shall dig deeper into a particular topic and prepare their contribution.

Alternatively, participants can also choose to work on an Open Topic. However, the project has to clearly cover one of the STEM-fields.

I want to apply with a POSTER, what do I have to consider?
Posters need to be prepared in an A0 format (841mm x 1189mm). Upload it to SLIDESHARE, include the #scichallenge2017, register for the contest and submit the link to your poster.
Share your poster with your friends! The number of Likes and Views will have an impact on your scoring!

I want to apply with a PRESENTATION, what do I have to consider?
Presentations are limited to a maximum of 20 slides. Use SLIDESHARE for uploading your presentation and include the #scichallenge2017. After uploading, register for the contest and submit the link to your presentation.
Share your presentation with your friends! The number of Likes and Views will also have an impact on your scoring!

I want to apply with a VIDEO, what do I have to consider?
Videos have to be uploaded on YOUTUBE and need to include the #scichallenge2017 . The length of the video is limited to 3 minutes. After uploading, register for the contest and submit the link to your video.
Share your video with your friends! The number of Likes and Views will also have an impact on your scoring!

The contributions can be prepared in following languages:

• English (preferable)
• German
• Greek
• Slovenian
• Slovakian
• Czech
• Hungarian
• Swedish
• French
• Spanish
• Polish

The contest is open for submissions between the 1st of January and 15th of May 2017.
For submitting their contribution, the participants have to follow a 2-step process.

(A) Social Media Channel Upload
Depending on the format, the contribution in the poster, presentation or video is uploaded on a particular social media site. All sites guarantee a broad distribution. Furthermore, they offer functionalities, which will be used for the rating: (1) number of views, and (2) positive evaluation through number of “likes”.

• In case participants are participating with a poster, they need to upload it on Slideshare (including #scichallenge2017 in the title and the description).
• In case participants are participating with a presentation, they need to upload it on Slideshare (including #scichallenge2017 in the title and the description).
• In case participants are participating with a video, they need to upload it on YouTube and include #scichallenge2017 in the title and the description.

(B) Registration on the SciChallenge Platform
After uploading their contribution to one of the above-mentioned social media sites, the participants have to register on the SciChallenge platform and submit the direct link to their contribution. Furthermore, they have to provide basic information related to their contribution (such as category of the contribution, related topic sheet etc.) as well as personal information (age etc.) and contact details (country of residence, address, phone number and email).

As some Social Media channels have age-limitations for registering, younger participants (below 14 years of age) need to provide permission or support from their parents, legal guardians or teachers to upload the content.

SciChallenge combines online community rating with traditional jury rating to rank the contributions of contestants.

Online Community Rating
In order to collect the rating by the Online Community, the SciChallenge Platform will include a Rating Module, which is aggregating the submissions from both the submission system and the social media sites, where the contributions were published. For the Online Community Rating, the Rating Module will count the number of views and the positive evaluation in form of “likes”.

Formula: (views) + (likes)*3 = Ranking

The SciChallenge rating system will stop counting “views” and “likes” automatically on 15 May 2017 at 24.00. Views and likes, which are added after this date, will not be taken into account for the rating.

In order to give participants from all European countries a chance to reach the final and to avoid biases based on languages, the Rating Module selects the two highest-ranked contributions from each participating country for each of the main categories: “age group”, “format” and “status” (individual or group). As finalist, these projects reach the second stage of the rating procedure.

Jury Rating
The finalists are then rated by the SciChallenge Jury. The Jury consist of experts from different fields and states. This will ensure that all 10 languages (English, German, Greek, Slovenian, Czech, Hungarian, Swedish, French, Spanish and Polish), which might be used in the contributions, are covered.

The Jury will select the 12 best contributions for each category – covering both age groups, individual or group contributions as well as different media formats.

Each jury member will evaluate all contributions by using a scoring matrix. The jury members will rate the contributions of the participants along the following criteria:

(A) Presentation of a Problem: the participants present or reflect on a problem in a clear manner and in a way that corresponds with the chosen format;
(B) Creativity of the Realization: the contributions are realized in a creative way;
(C) Added Value: the contributions have an added value beyond the life-time of the contest, for example to be used as inputs or examples within other settings of (formal or informal) education and science engagement;
(D) Future Thinking: the contributions aim at addressing major challenges and propose new ideas for addressing these challenges;
(E) ONLY FOR AGE GROUP 15-20 YEARS: Scientific Approach: The reference to and adoption of existing scientific knowledge through the participants’ individual approach will be assessed.

For each criterion, the jury members allocate 1 to 10 points, which means that a contribution can reach a maximum of 40 points for Age Group 1 and 50 points for Age Group 2.

Please keep in mind to inform your parents or your teacher about your participation in the SciChallenge contest. If you are younger than 14 years old, you have to register together with your parents, legal guardian or teacher.

The 12 final Pan-European winners of the SciChallenge contest will be invited to the final award event in Vienna 20.-21. July 2017 and to present their contribution.

The winners are expected to present their contributions at the event and answer questions from the jury. We will cover the basic travel expenses for the winners of the SciChallenge contest. We will also provide traveling support for one parent or one legal guardian for all children below 18 years. The travel expenses include a flight or train and an overnight stay in an appropriate accommodation. The maximum amount of travel expenses, which will be covered, is Euro 1.000,- per person. Group participants can only be accompanied by one legal guardian.

In addition to the trip to Vienna, the 12 winners will receive a certificate that recognizes their achievement in the SciChallenge Pan-European contest. All 12 winning contributions, who are represented at the award event in Vienna, will have the chance to get one of the three:

Audience Awards (Vouchers):
Rank 1: EUR 3.000,-
Rank 2: EUR 2.000.-
Rank 3: EUR 1.000,-