Named as one of the top STEM scholarships in 2022, the Breakthrough Junior Challenge is now accepting applicants as of April 1, 2022. The deadline for entry submissions is 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time on June 25th, 2022. Interested individuals can submit their entries through the Breakthrough Junior Challenge website.
What Is the Breakthrough Junior Challenge?
The Breakthrough Prize was established to recognize significant advances in Fundamental Physics, Life Sciences, and Mathematics. Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, Yuri Milner and his wife Julia Milner, and Anne Wojcicki founded foundations to support the prizes. The Breakthrough Prize strives to honor the finest scientific achievements while inspiring future generations of scientists and researchers.
How the Breakthrough Junior Challenge Works
The Breakthrough Junior Challenge is a global competition for kids that encourages them to think creatively about science. Students between the ages of 13 and 18 from all around the world are asked to make and submit creative movies (no longer than 1:30 minutes) that bring an idea or theory in the biological sciences, physics, or mathematics to life. The student’s ability to express complicated scientific ideas in engaging, enlightening, and inventive ways is evaluated. The Breakthrough Prize Foundation, formed by Yuri Milner and his wife Julia as part of their Giving Pledge to encourage science and the transmission of scientific ideas, is organizing the Challenge.
How Is the Breakthrough Junior Challenge Judged?
Video submissions will be judged by these criteria:
Engagement: Does the video capture the viewer’s interest? Did the viewer want to keep watching the video to the end? These criteria will be judged on a scale from “uninteresting” to “captivating.”
Illumination: Did the video explain the subject matter clearly, allowing the viewer to develop a genuine understanding of the video’s content? Did the video demonstrate a rigorous dive into the subject matter? This criteria will be judged on a scale from “uninformative” to “enlightening.”
Creativity: Did the entrant make an effort to approach the subject matter innovatively or creatively? This criteria will be judged on a scale from “unimaginative” to “inventive.”
Difficulty: The subject of your video submission should be difficult enough to test your ability to explain it. It should neither be something that a broad audience already knows nor should it be a basic fact that can be sought out and comprehended in a matter of seconds. This criteria will be judged on a scale from “simple” to “complex.”
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How To Enter the Breakthrough Junior Challenge
The Breakthrough Junior Challenge administrators, representing the foundation set up Yuri Milner, have made it very easy for individuals to enter the competition. It is broken down into stages.
Stage One: Choose a physics, biological sciences, or mathematics theory, idea, or principle. One that is critical to comprehend yet difficult to convey.
Stage Two: Make a short movie (no more than 1:30 minutes) to convey the concept in an entertaining, informative, and inventive manner. Be inventive! Consider including visual elements such as animations, simulations, or physical demonstrations in your film.
Stage Three: Join the Breakthrough Facebook page and provide a YouTube video link in your application. Applicants are also encouraged to post the submission video link to their personal Facebook page. Participate in the Peer-to-Peer evaluation, where you will be able to see and rate the work of five other candidates.
Yuri Milner, an Israeli billionaire who has made often bold investments in digital firms like Facebook, Twitter, and Alibaba, as well as closer to home on Flipkart and Ola, is on a mission to bring science into the public awareness. Since 2012, the annual Breakthrough Prize Ceremony, dubbed the “Oscars of Science” has been held in Silicon Valley.
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