Arthur J. Villasanta – Fourth Estate Contributor
San Francisco, CA, United States (4E) – The Breakthrough Prize has announced the top 29 student semifinalists in the third annual Breakthrough Junior Challenge, a science competition for teenagers around the world between 13 and 18 years old.
Breakthrough Junior Challenge is a global initiative to develop and demonstrate young people’s knowledge of science and scientific principles; generate excitement in these fields; support STEM career choices and engage the imagination and interest of the public-at-large in key concepts of fundamental science.
The announcement also began the “Popular Vote” portion of the global competition. All videos of the contestants will be posted online on the Breakthrough Facebook page for public review.
The 29 semifinalists represent the top submissions following a review by an evaluation panel, in addition to top scorers from each of eight geographical regions. The contest is designed to inspire creative thinking about fundamental concepts in the life sciences, physics, or mathematics.
The 29 semifinalists include teenagers from the United States, United Kingdom, India, Mexico, Spain, United Arab Emirates, Panama, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Republic of Korea, Lebanon, the Philippines, Bolivia and Belgium.
The 2017 installment of the global competition drew more than 11,000 registrants from 178 countries and over 3,200 video submissions.
The winner of the Breakthrough Junior Challenge will be announced at the 2017 Breakthrough Prize ceremony in early December, and will be awarded a $250,000 scholarship. The science teacher who inspired the winning student will win a $50,000 prize.
The winner’s school will also receive a state-of-the-art science lab valued at $100,000.
For the third year, students were invited to create original videos (up to three minutes in length) that illustrated a concept or theory in the physical or life sciences. The submissions were evaluated on the students’ ability to communicate complex scientific ideas in the most engaging, illuminating, and imaginative ways.
Breakthrough Junior Challenge is funded by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, and Yuri and Julia Milner, through the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, based on a grant from Mark Zuckerberg’s fund at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and a grant from the Milner Global Foundation.
The semi-finalists’ videos can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/pg/BreakthroughPrize/videos/
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