STEM STARS GREECE: LOOKING FOR THE GREEK STEM STARS

The US Embassy in Athens, in collaboration with the Non-Profit Organization SciCo, organize the STEM STARS GREECE competition, which aims to support, highlight and reward students aged 14 to 18, with an interest in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM). The winners of the competition will win important prizes, such as representing Greece in the international competition "International Science and Engineering Fair", the largest international science competition in the world, which will be held online in May 2021. The competition is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Research and Religions. The sponsor of the competition is Microsoft Hellas.

The competition gives participants the opportunity to delve into a STEM field of science of interest, to develop research skills, collaboration, and communication skills, to present their findings to the general public, to network with people with similar research interests, STEM scientists and professionals and win major awards. The STEM STARS GREECE competition is part of the cooperation between Greece and the United States of America in the framework of the Strategic Dialogue of the two countries. This year's competition is also part of a series of programs supported by the US Embassy. for the celebration of the 200 Years of Friendship between Greece and the United States of America.

Participation in the competition is free. Eligible to participate are students who attend a public or private school in Greece and are between 14 and 18 years old (3rd Gymnasium - 3rd Lyceum) on the date of the Competition. The first step for a student or team, that wishes to take part in the competition, is to choose a topic that they would like to research in-depth! The choice of topics can be related to research or project in any of the four components of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), while a project can touch more than one topic. There are no restrictions on the project that will be selected - it can be an invention - construction, research on solving a modern problem, an experiment, as long as the approach is based on an innovative idea and a deep interest for further investigation.

All projects are submitted electronically via https://stemstarsgreece.athens-science-festival.gr/ during the period 15 December 2020 to 21 February 2021, and the final list of qualifiers will be announced in March 2021 on the above website. The grand final will be held as part of the Athens Science Festival, which will take place online in March 2021 and will highlight the first two teams/participants/entities that will win a place to compete in the Virtual International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2021. This will be the first time that students from Greece will participate in the ISEF competition to claim international awards and prizes totaling more than $5 million.

The route of the contestants is depicted in the following diagram:

For more information and detailed terms of participation, you can browse the address https://stemstarsgreece.athens-science-festival.gr/ or contact the email address stemstarsgreece@gmail.com.