Second Crystal Growth Competition for Elementary and High School Students "The Beauty of the Crystal Faces"
The Croatian Crystallographic Association and the Croatian Crystallographic Community, in cooperation with the company PLIVA HRVATSKA d.o.o., are organizing the second crystal growth competition for primary and secondary school students in Croatia from October 14 to December 17, 2016, entitled ‘The Beauty of the Crystal Faces’.
The previous edition of the competition aroused great interest among students and their mentors from all over Croatia. Teams of young scientists from more than 150 primary and secondary schools accepted the challenge, bravely stepped into the world of science, and grew their crystals for two months, hoping to win the title of Crystallographer of the Year.
This year’s competition consists of performing crystal growth (crystallization of the material provided to the competitors) and will be held in three categories. The competitors’ task will be to prepare the largest and most regular crystal possible within a set period of time. Elementary and high school students will compete separately, and the categories they will be able to choose from are as follows:
- Crystal growth within a crystal
- Crystal growth of organic matter
- Challenging – synthesis and crystallization of an inorganic compound
Dr. Aleksandar Višnjevac, President of the Croatian Crystallographic Association, emphasized: “By reorganizing the ‘Beauty of the Crystal Faces’ competition, we want to further contribute to quality education, bring crystallography closer to students, but also encourage them to think about the advantages of choosing natural sciences as a career.”
PLIVA’s project manager, Dr. sc. Ernest Meštrović, Senior Director of Research and Development at TAPI, emphasized on the occasion of this year’s competition: “I am extremely pleased that we once again have the opportunity to organize this educational project, one of the main goals of which is to promote and popularize science among the younger generations. Our desire is to create a positive attitude towards science, research, and learning among students through direct experience.”
Applications for the competition will be accepted from September 26 to October 7, 2016, by completing the application form available on PLIVA’s website and sending it via e-mail to kristalnirast@pliva.com. Detailed information about the competition is available on the official Facebook page Ljepota kristalnih ploha and on the websites of the Croatian Association of Crystallographers and PLIVA, from where it is possible to download the competition brochure. For all additional information, please contact the official competition e-mail address kristalnirast@pliva.com.
