ISABS Future Scientist Award for high school students competition opens

ZAGREB, March 19 (Hina)

A competition for high school students for the ISABS Future Scientist Award was opened on Tuesday in the Ministry of Science and Education with the support of Minister Blazenka Divjak, ISABS president Dragan Primorac and US Ambassador to Croatia Robert Kohorst.

The International Society of Applied Biological Sciences (ISABS) award is a joint project of ISABS, the Ministry of Science and Education and the Croatian Education and Teacher Training Agency.

Applications can be sent until 1 May and the laureates will be selected by prominent global and Croatian scientists, including Nobel Prize winners, and revealed on 15 May on the ministry's and ISABS' web sites.

The ISABS rewards the best Croatian high school students' papers (essays) in the field of human biology, genetics and chemistry and is part of the ISABS Conference which is held every other year in Croatia and is one of  the leading scientific events of the year.

Laureates to meet with Nobel Prize winners at 11th ISABS conference in Split, June 17 - 22

Six of the best high-school students will be rewarded by participating at the 11th ISABS Conference on Forensic and Anthropological Genetics and Mayo Clinic Lectures in Individualized Medicine, Primorac said, adding that this year the conference will be held in the southern Adriatic city of Split from 17 to 22 June.

The conference is being jointly organised by ISABS, the Mayo Clinic and St. Catherine Specialty Hospital, in cooperation with the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the Penn State, New Haven, and George Washington universities, Institute for Anthropology, Genos Ltd and several Croatian universities and scientific organisations. It will held under the auspices of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU).

The laureates, Primorac told a press conference presenting the award, will present a summary of their papers and will participate in a special event - Nobel Spirit - where scientists will talk about how medicine has developed in the 21st century. He announced that four Nobel Prize winners would attend that event - Paul Modrich, Thomas Sudhoff, Avram Hershko and Robert Huber.

Support from Minister Divjak and US Ambassador Kohorst

Minister Divjak supported the project. She recalled that Primorac founded the award that motivates students to excellence in science, which is one of the prerequisites for strengthening their innovativeness.

She personally believes that it is important for students to adopt a scientific way of thinking, to learn how to scientifically explain their stances and results. She highlighted the component of applied science, which is why this award is especially important.

Ambassador Kohorst too thinks that this is an important and successful cooperation between Croatian and American scientists, which is supported by the embassy.

He recalled the successful cooperation in the Fulbright programme, whose prestigious scholarships have been awarded to a lot of Croatian scientists and public figures.

Taken from: Hina

 

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