Brussels, 28/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the twenty four young people who were prize winners in the European Union Contest for Young Scientists shared total prize money of €28,500. Three projects each received €5,000 as the first prize was shared by Michael Kaiser and Johannes Kienl of Austria, for “Development of a complete new de-ice system for aircraft”, Johannes Burkart and Alexander Joos of Germany, for “Flight curves of table tennis balls” and Tomasz Wdowik of Poland, for “Synthesis of new potential â blockers”. Other prize winners came from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Norway and Spain. The winners were chosen by a jury of fifteen distinguished scientists, headed by Prof. Jane Grimson of Trinity College Dublin, from a field of 120 young scientists, aged from 15 to 20, from 33 countries. The ceremony took place in the Winter Garden of the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, which hosted the Nobel Prize ceremony from 1901 to 1921. Next year's event will be held at the University of Valencia.
European Science and Research Janez Potoènik congratulated the winners, saying, “Science knows no boundaries, and that includes age. What we have seen today shows the innovative and questing spirit of our young people. I offer my warmest congratulations to all of you who participated in the Contest and, of course, the winners. I very much hope that you will all continue to enjoy the thrill of invention and discovery, now and throughout your lives”.