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EPO Prize winners announced

27 September 2011

Dalia Bartkevičiūtė and Gailė Tumėnaitė from Lithuania in front of their stand

At the 23rd European Union Contest for Young Scientists in Helsinki, Finland this week, the EPO Prize for Originality 2011 was awarded to:

  • Dalia Bartkevičiūtė and Gailė Tumėnaitė (Lithuania) for their project "Mushroom dyes for tapestry Restoration",
  • Pius Markus Theiler (Switzerland) for his project "pi Cam - The development of a camming device for climbing" and
  • Emir Aycan Bedel and Cem Öztürk (Turkey) for their project "Using enzymatic biofuel cells in photosynthesis to produce electrical energy".

Presented at an awards ceremony on Tuesday, the prize consists of an invitation to the winners to spend five days in Munich in November 2012, including visits to the EPO and companies active in their scientific fields. They will also have the opportunity to explore the city.

The European Contest for Young Scientists

Emir Aycan Bedel and Cem Öztürk from Turkey present their project

The European Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS), managed by the Directorate-General for science, research and development of the European Commission, was established in 1989, to promote the ideals of co-operation and interchange between young scientists. The EUCYS builds on the efforts made in each participating country to attract young people to careers in science and technology.

Since 1997 the EPO has been involved in the contest, offering advice to national organisers and promoting awareness of patent issues to contestants. In 1999, the EPO prize for originality was established

This year's EPO representative on the jury is Victor Kaas, Director in Biotechnology.

Pius Markus Theiler from Switzerland demonstrates the `pi Cam`

The EPO Prize for Originality

This a special award by the EPO and is intended to encourage the development of qualities that distinguish successful inventors. The judging criteria for the prize are:

  • the application of original (i.e. self-generated) ideas in solving a problem or set of problems;
  • the logical exploitation of scientific/technical theories or principles in order to achieve a practical solution to a problem or set of problems, and;
  • quality and clarity of the written report.

The winners of last year's EPO Prize for Originality will present their winning projects at the EPO in Munich in November.

All pictures courtesy of the European Commission 

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