“Sparkling Science 2.0” familiarises young people with research
The aim of “Sparkling Science 2.0” is to bring children, young people and interested adults in touch with research. Universities, universities of applied sciences and university colleges of teacher education can apply – if possible with partners from industry and society – for a total of 9.5 million euros that the Ministry of Education is making available for the funding programme. The OeAD, Austria’s Agency for Education and Internationalisation, implements “Sparkling Science 2.0” on behalf of the Ministry of Education.
The call for proposals will start on 1 September 2021; projects will start in the school year 2022/23. The maximum funding is 350,000 euros per project. Additional funding is available for the two thematic areas “Development of citizen science know-how through international networking” and “Science at schools”. The own contribution is at least ten percent of the project sum.
“The last few months in particular have shown how important it is for children, young people and interested adults to have access to science and research and to be motivated to engage in research activities. With Sparkling Science 2.0 the Ministry of Science and Research provides a total of 9.5 million euros in the first call for applications to promote innovative cooperation projects between research and education. Another call for applications is planned in two years’ time,” announces the federal minister Heinz Faßmann.
The OeAD’s managing director Jakob Calice emphasises: “Science and research are of central importance in our society. This has been shown once again not least by Covid-19 and the consequences of the virus, from the vaccination debate to the handling of scientific information. This is why it is important to confront scientific scepticism with globally outstanding funding programmes such as Sparkling Science. In no other European country do children and young people have such opportunities to immerse themselves in the world of science and research.”
The Sparkling-Science research partner exchange
To help schools, research institutions, university colleges of teacher education and partners from business and society to start networking beforehand, the OeAD provides four padlets. In them organisations can register their interest in collaborating in a citizen science project. All information about the Sparkling Science research partner exchange and a quick guide on how to use the padlets is available on the OeAD programme website https://zentrumfuercitizenscience.at/
About Sparkling Science
From 2007 to 2019 the research funding programme “Sparkling Science” funded numerous innovative projects in which pupils conducted research on current scientific topics, supported by their teachers and side by side with researchers. In total more than 107,000 people from 200 research institutions, 535 schools and 185 partners from industry and society took part in the 299 funded projects. More than 101,000 pupils conducted research in the interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary projects together with more than 4,200 scientists and students and supported by more than 2,600 teachers. In total almost 35 million euros were made available for this purpose over the 13 years. The funded projects covered a wide range of research topics, from ornithology, nanomaterials and robotics to animal nutrition, the study of ancient texts and ambient assisted living.
Now the first round of the successor programme “Sparkling Science 2.0” will start on 1 September 2021.
Examples from the last few years
In Vienna pupils of the HTBLVA Spengergasse analysed “The genetic map of the skin” in the laboratory together with researchers from the Medical University of Vienna. A major goal of this project was to present the wealth of data in a simple and clearly laid out way. Here the pupils contributed their expertise and developed a new computer programme, which has been made freely accessible and usable for researchers in the spirit of open access after the completion of the project.
In the project “Green4Brain”, led by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, pupils from three Viennese schools investigated the restorative effect of (open) spaces in schools in comparison to green spaces. The pupils were involved in all aspects of the project. In methodological workshops they learned about different working methods and measuring tools in recreation research, environmental medicine and environmental technology, which they were then able to apply directly in the project. The formats of the cooperation with the schools ranged from individual lessons to workshops lasting several hours or entire project days. Afterwards young people who were particularly interested in the topic even had the possibility to complete an internship at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna in the summer and thus gained an even more detailed insight into scientific working life.
In Styria, for example, the primary school Pirka, the MS Vorau and the Ferdinandeum in Graz as well as the HLW Schrödinger and the HLW Krieglach examined selected cooking recipes from the Middle Ages together with researchers from the University of Graz in the project “Nutritious Middle Ages”. The results were prepared and disseminated for different age groups and target groups: In addition to a scientific conference and publication a cookbook, a cookery show, a children's cookery blog and teaching materials for different school levels and school types were produced, which are to enable teachers in the future to plan their own lessons with emphasis on nutrition through the ages in different cultures. Facebook, Instagram and a bilingual Wordpress blog drew the attention of a broad public to the topic and opened up additional opportunities for participation.
Research was also conducted in the West of Austria. For example, researchers from the University of Innsbruck, together with pupils from the MS Zirl and the middle school and sports middle school Königsweg, investigated the snow melt on the Jamtalferner glacier. The aim of the “Black.Ice” project was to define for the first time for an alpine glacier the effect and role of microorganisms in connection with glacier melt.
Further information and advice
Eligible for application are:
- universities, private universities, non-university research institutions;
- Fachhochschule degree programmes and universities of applied sciences;
- university colleges of teacher education;
- non-profit associations and societies, limited liability companies (Gesellschaften mbH) and NGOs that pursue a scientific purpose and cooperate with universities, universities of applied sciences or non-university research institutions within the framework of the funded projects.
Applicant institutions can find more details on the OeAD website. The OeAD also offers an information event on 2 September and three Q&A sessions in the following weeks to clarify open questions.
Links
To the registration for the information event
Enquiries and contact:
Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research
Mag. Debora Knob
+43 1 53120-5026
debora.knob@bmbwf.gv.at
www.bmbwf.gv.at
OeAD – Agency for Education and Internationalisation
Mag. Ursula Hilmar
+43 1 53408-270
presse@oead.at
www.oead.at