Research: EU Contest for Young Scientists

The 17th European Union Contest for Young Scientists

High-Resolution photos of the 1st to 3rd prize winners

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First Prize - GERMANY	First Prize - SPAIN	First Prize - SWITZERLAND

Project title: Corners in water – unexpected symmetry breaking in fluid dynamics Field: Physics Igor GOTLIBOVITCH Age: 18 City/Region: München School: Maria-Theresia-Gymnasium Career intention:Physicist Hobbies: Aikido, fitness, swimming Renate LANDIG Age: 19 City/Region: Bad Saulgau School: Störck-Gymnasium Career intention: Physicist Hobbies: Playing the piano, fitness, riding, swimming Every day, when we run the kitchen tap, we see a hydraulic jump" - where the water hits the basin it spreads out thinly, but a little further out the water level suddenly jumps" and becomes much deeper. This project investigated the phenomenon under laboratory conditions, and found that under certain conditions the border between the shallow and the deep water was not circular but polygonal: the water had corners.	Project title: Sonchus leptacaulis: a new species consolidation in Gran Canaria Field: Biology Javier LÓPEZ MARTÍNEZ-FORTÚN Age: 18 City/Region: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria School: Garoé School Career intention: medicine doctor Hobbies: padel, play guitar, football Eliecer PÉREZ ROBAINA Age: 18 City/Region: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria School: Garoé School Career intention: psychology Hobbies: basketball, music, messenger Carlos MACHADO CARVAJAL Age: 18 City/Region: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria School: Garoé School Career intention: aeronautic engineer Hobbies: radio, control cars, racquet sports, DIY, table games The purpose of this research was to find out whether some plants discovered in 1998 belonged to a new category that had not yet been described. It also investigated whether similar specimens were to be found in other places around the Canary Islands.	Project title: Development of a system for the local prevention of catheter associated urinary tract infection Field: Medical Silvana KONERMANN Age: 17 City/Region: Zurich School: Saechsisches Landesgymnasium Sankt Afra Career intention: neuroscientist Hobbies: cello, dancing, painting When Silvana's grandmother went to hospital with a urinary tract infection, Silvana resolved to prevent it from happening again. Post-operative urinary tract infections are caused by the use of catheters, but the standard treatment (oral antibiotics) is often ineffective because a film develops on the catheter's surface, protecting the bacteria. Silvana's solution was to use a high-tech polymer to impregnate the catheter itself with antibiotics, which is also better for the patient.
Second Prize - CZECH REPUBLIC	Second Prize - GERMANY	Second Prize - IRELAND

Project title: Vegetation dynamics of the small forest and open-landscape ponds and its historical causes Field: Environment Zdenek JANOVSKÝ Age: 19 When cultivation forces out certain varieties of plantlife, they can sometimes find a refuge beside ponds in small forests. This project combined historical and botanical approaches, reconstructing the development of vegetation and looking at eutrophication. As a result, Zdenek identified some steps for maintaining biodiversity, and conservation groups have already shown an interest.	Project: Lab on the chip – new perspectives with electrons as universal reagent Field: Chemistry Stephen SCHULZ Age: 19 This project could enable some pharmaceuticals to be researched and produced more simply, and without using dangerous compounds as catalysts. Using miniaturisation and a method called anodic polarisation, organomagnesium and organolithium compounds can be synthesised more easily and in greater quantities. This has made it possible for the first time to deposit magnesium by electrolysis using inorganic salts.	Project:Croma: a new dialect of lisp Field: Computer science Patrick COLLISON Age: 17 Writing sophisticated programmes that run on the web is notoriously difficult and complex. Croma is a new programming language, based on Lisp, designed to make web programming easier. It uses an integrated web-server, and its programmes are much shorter than ones written in other languages, making them cheaper to develop.
Third Prize - DENMARK	Third Prize - ESTONIA	Third Prize - LUXEMBOURG

Project:Aid for putting on and taking off stockings for handicapped persons Field: Medical Gitte Ahlquist JONSSON Age: 19 Every day, many elderly and handicapped people are hospitalised by falls while taking off or putting on socks or stockings - a task they often find difficult and arduous. This project presents a device that allows socks or stockings to be put on or taken off while sitting down - so lessening the danger of falling.	Project: Generalizations of the Fibonacci sequence Field: Mathematics Margus NIITSOO Age: 18 This project analyses the generalisations of the Fibonacci sequence with the recurrence relation Un = pUn-1 + qUn-2. It finds they have much in common with the original sequence, and proves two formulae that allow many others known for Fibonacci numbers to be applied to these sequences too. It also investigates the connection between these sequences and Lindenmayer systems.	Project: Cartography of galls Field: Biology Eric DELE Age: 15 Pierre HAAS Age: 16 Galls are proliferations of cell tissue in plants, and they are often very organised structures. This project investigated galls found in the autumn in two areas of Luxembourg. It asked what caused galls in these areas and what species of animal are encouraged by the galls produced by Diplolepis rosae wasps.