14 DAY TRIAL // Google Science Fair 2014 kicks off as it seeks to find the bright and creative teenagers who want to change the world with the help of science.
The project isn’t only Google’s, as the company also works with Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson’s company, the Lego Group, National Geographic and Scientific American.
Google Science Fair accepts projects from students aged 13 to 18. They can sign up, work individually or as a team, and begin working on a submission that is due in three months.
The winner will receive a ten-day expedition to the Galapagos Islands aboard the National Geographic Endeavor, but also a VIP tour of Virgin Galactic’s Spaceport America. From Google, the winner will receive a scholarship of $50,000 and a $10,000 grant for his or her school for brand new science lab equipment.
There are, of course, additional prizes for various categories, as well as based on the participants’ age.
Projects must be submitted by May 12, 2014, after which they’ll be judged by a panel. Regional contestants will be announced in June and the global finalists in August. The big prizes will be awarded in September.
This competition was introduced in 2011. Students from anywhere across the globe can participate, except for a few countries. They need to formulate a hypothesis, perform and experiment, and present their results.
Entries are judged on multiple criteria, namely their presentation, question, hypothesis, research, experiment, data, observations, and conclusion.
Back in 2011, a 17-year-old girl won the grand prize for her research on a chemotherapy drug. The following year, another 17-year-old won the big prize with her study called “Global Neutral Cloud Service for Breast Cancer,” which was designed to diagnose malignant cancerous tumors in a noninvasive way.
Last year, Eric Chen tried to discover a novel flu shot effective against all influenza viruses, including pandemic strains.