Regional Final, NOESIS Science Centre, Thessaloniki, Greece

The semi final of Odysseus II for Bulgaria, Cyprus and Greece in the Pioneers’ category took place on 2 – 4 April 2016, at NOESIS Science Centre, in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Seven teams, which had qualified from the first round of the contest, competed in the regional final and presented their projects in front of a jury.

The judging committee comprised of Emeritus Professro J. Seiradakis, Astrophysicist, from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Dr. Ivanka Stateva, Associate Professor at the Institute of Astronomy and NAO, BAS, Bulgaria and Professor V. Charmandaris, Astrophysicist, director of IAASARS (Institute for astronomy, astrophysics, space, applications and remote seeing), National Observatory of Athens.

During the first day the contestants were given a grand tour of NOESIS Science Centre and Museum, attended a show in the planetarium auditorium and prepared their presentations for the next day.  In the evening they visited the observatory in the campus of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where Prof. Seiradakis gave a short lecture on gravitational waves and a fruitful discussion followed.

The winning team of the regional final was the team «Astronomy Addicted» from the Hellenic-American Educational Foundation, Athens, with the project entitled «Living with the solar wind».

Special citations were given to the following teams:

• Diploma for the best scientific project to the AQUANAUTS team (Astronomical Observatory and Planetarium Nicolaus Copernicus, Varna, Bulgaria).
• Diploma for the most artistic presentation to the ETI_ALI team (Astronomical Observatory and Planetarium Nicolaus Copernicus, Varna, Bulgaria).
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• Diploma for the best practical value project to the EXTRA TERRESTRIAL ASTRONOMERS team (Vocational High School of Velestino, Greece)
• Diploma for the most socially relevant project to the EXO-ANIMALS team (Experimental High School of the University of Patras, Greece).
• Diploma for sustainability and environmental awareness to the METEOTEAM team (The G C School of Careers, Nicosia, Cyprus)
• Diploma for girls in science to the CASSIOPEIA team (Theklio High School, Lemesos, Cyprus)

In total 19 pupils participated in the regional final, 13 out which were girls!

The Jury Panel

Presenting the project in front of the jury

In the observatory of the university

Teams having fun in the 3D simulator

The winning team receiving their medals