Internet search giant Google has kicked off its second annual Google Science Fair and is inviting students from around the world to take part and be in with a chance of winning some cool prizes.
Google has partnered with CERN, The LEGO Group, National Geographic and Scientific American, for what it says is the largest online science competition in the world.
Students ages 13-18 are eligible to enter, either individually or in teams of up to three people. Google is accepting submissions until 1 April.
“Students pose a question, develop a hypothesis and conduct science experiments to test it,” Cristin Frodella of Google’s Education Team wrote on Google’s blog. “The entire process is detailed and submitted online, via a website template participants fill out themselves, so all you need to participate is curiosity, an internet connection and a browser.”
In addition to introducing a new category in this year’s science fair, the Scientific American Science in Action award, Google is also accepting submissions in 13 languages – Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Spanish and Russian).
Regional finalists will be announced in May. Judges will choose the top 15 finalists, who will be flown to Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, for the live Google Science Fair final event on 23 July 2012.
At the finals, a panel of international judges will select top winners in each age category (13-14, 15-16, 17-18).
The prizes up for grabs include a US$50,000 college scholarship from Google, a 10-day trip to the Galapagos Islands with a National Geographic Explorer or an internship at Google or any one of its partners, Frodella wrote in the blog.
“Our Scientific American Science in Action award winner will earn US$50,000 and year-long mentorship to make their project goal a reality.”
