Rules

• It is the responsibility of the team’s teacher-leader to provide full and correct information about each participant in the team via the Odysseus II website registration form.
• Each participant under the age of 18 must provide a signed parental consent form to participate in the contest. A parental consent form for travel and participation in the regional and European finals must be provided for each contestant under the age of 18 participating in the finals.
• It is the responsibility of the team teacher-leader to provide the organizers with signed parental consent forms for all their contestants.
• All contest winners at each level of judging will be included in group-photographs and must consent to have pictures of their faces published on Odysseus Contest website and other outreach websites and on printed contest outreach materials.

• All contestants or teams must submit an original space science picture or project based on the themes and challenges specified for their age category.
• Teams and individual contestants may submit their digital entry between the dates determined by their age category:
  • Skywalkers: 1st September 2016 to 31st March 2017
  • Pioneers and Explorers: 1st September 2016 to 31st March 2017
• No submissions will be accepted after midnight (23:59:59 CET) on the closing date, unless there has been a severe technical problem with the online submission platform. If the online submission tool goes down for more than two hours on the last day of submission (31st March 2017), the organizers will make the tool available for submissions between 8.00 and 18.00 (CET) on the day following the final submission day (i.e. 1st April 2017).
• If submitted files are lost or deleted, due to a bug in the Odysseus II Contest online system, the relevant team will be allowed to resubmit their entry, after the submission deadline if necessary. However, this will not be the case if the contestants themselves have deleted or corrupted their files.
• Entries to the Odysseus II contest must be submitted only via the Odysseus Contest website. Before a team/contestant submits an entry, they must register and be approved by the organizers (also see Registration).
• Each entry must address a single theme from those provided by the organizers. However, contestants can choose the subject area with which they tackle the theme: electronics, physics, chemistry, art, design, architecture, psychology etc. can all be used to illuminate an aspect of the chosen theme.
• Electronic files uploaded to document each project can include: illustrated essays, PowerPoint presentations, posters, videos, links to dedicated project websites, and audio files.
• Allowed file formats are:
  • Documents; .doc .docx, .pdf, .txt  .ps  .ppt, .pptx, .pps,  .ppsx
  • Images: *.png, *.jpg, *jpeg, *.bmp, *.gif
  • Videos:  All videos should be uploaded in youtube or vimeo and the link should be provided.
  • Audio formats: *.mp3
  • Compression formats: .tar .gz .zip .7z
• The term ‘picture’ can apply to artwork created by any medium either manually (drawing, painting, mosaics etc.) or electronically (photographs, drawings made with computer design programs etc.). Artwork not created electronically must be scanned and uploaded in one of the approved formats.
• A project submission template will be available through the official website during the submission process that will enable contestants to compile their submissions. Use of this template is optional.
• The maximum limit on the total size of uncompressed files for each entry is: 20 MB. Contestants may bundle multiple files into a package for submission. They may also compress the files into a *.gz or *.zip format so long as the uncompressed files meet the size limit of 20MB.
• Each project may cost no more than 300 € in materials to produce
• Entries should contain an acknowledgement page listing all the people who contributed in some way to the project, including any entities, which gave financial support to the project. A sponsor logo may appear on this acknowledgement page. No other sponsor advertising, or product placement is allowed in the submitted materials.
• It is the contestants’ responsibility to convert other file formats into an appropriate file format for submission.
• Participants are responsible for the content of their entry to the contest. If they disclose personal information in the entry they submit, they make the disclosures at their own risk.
• Organizers are not responsible for the content that is submitted by the participants.
• Participants agree not to submit material that is: defamatory, abusive, harassing, insulting or threatening to any other person; bigoted, hateful or racially offensive; vulgar, obscene or sexually explicit; illegal (or promotes illegal activity).

• The contest is open to pupils and university students aged between 7 and 22 years. To be eligible to compete contestants must fall within the specified age range on the last day of submissions for the ‘Skywalkers’ category (31st March 2017):
  • Skywalkers: 7 to 13 years old (school pupils born on or between 1st April 2003 and 31st March 2010)
  • Pioneers: 14 to 19 years old (secondary education pupils, born on or between 1st April 1997 and 31st March 2003)
  • Explorers: 17 to 22 years old (university undergraduates, born on or between 1st April 1994 and 31st March 2000)
• It is free to participate in the contest and travel and accommodation expenses (plane and train tickets, accommodation, set meals and insurance) for participating in regional and European finals will be covered by the Odysseus II Contest, within reasonable limits. Expenses incurred for additional travelling companions, spending money etc., must be met by the contestants or their sponsors.  Non-EU countries’ participants in the regional semi-finals have to provide their own travel expenses to and from the location of the semi-final.
• Pupils and Students are eligible to participate in the contest if they are resident in a country that is an EU member during the academic year of the contest, namely: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
• Pupils and students from countries outside the European Union are also eligible to participate (e.g. Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Lichtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Switzerland, Monaco, San Marino, Turkey and Ukraine), but must submit all their material in one of the 24 official EU languages. N.B. The list given here is not exhaustive and entrants from other countries are welcome to participate so long as they meet the other eligibility requirements.
• Members of the organizers’ families are not eligible to take part in the Odysseus II contest.

• Registration in the Odysseus II contest can only be done through the official Odysseus II contest website: www.odysseus-contest.eu
• The registration period is: 1st September 2016 to 31st March 2017
• By registering to participate on the Odysseus II Contest website, all contestants and their teacher-leaders agree to the rules of the contest as stated in this document and on the Odysseus Contest website.
• Odysseus II contest participants, or teacher-leaders shall provide the contest organizers with certain registration information, as set forth in the on-line registration form, when registering a team or pupil to participate in the Odysseus II Contest.
• The organizers will approve teams and set up a secure account for each Skywalker contestant, Pioneer team, Explorer contestant or pair of contestants. Thereafter, each pupil, student, or team will receive a unique user name and password, to access their account (i.e. there will be a single account for each submitted picture or project).
• The leader-teacher of each pupil or team must have the authority to confirm and ensure the accuracy of all personal information provided, and agree that the organizers may use information they submit to verify such authority. The same responsibility rests with university students, who register themselves as contestants.
• The organizers may terminate a pupil, team or students’ account, and block the use of the Odysseus II website if their registration is incomplete; if data that has been provided is (or the organizers believe is) untrue, inaccurate, not current, incomplete; or the organizers are unable to verify any of the team’s registration data.
• The contestants and teacher-leaders are responsible for keeping their account secure and for all activities conducted through their account. The team leader-teacher should immediately notify the Organizers of any unauthorized use of their pupil or team’s account, or any suspected breach of the account’s security.

• Entries to the Odysseus II contest can be in any of the 24 official languages of the EU, for teams and contestants from EU member countries.
• The EU member countries will be split into 7 to 10 regions for the second round of judging. These regions include some neighbouring non-EU. Non-EU countries will be assigned to one of the 10 regions by the organizers when entries have been submitted.
• For the presentation of their entries in the regional semi-finals all teams from the European Union will have access to translators / interpreters, provided by the local Odysseus II contest organizers. It will be helpful if each team has an English-speaking teacher-leader, but not obligatory.
• If the entry makes it to the final round of the contest, the contestants must provide a full translation into English of the entry for judging, if the entry was originally submitted in another language.
• No translators or interpreters will be provided by the Odysseus II contest for teams from outside the European Union. These teams must present their work, written and oral, in English or in one of the languages of the EU countries participating in the regional semi-final.

• All entries submitted must be the contestants’ own work, carried out specifically for this contest. Prior to submission, participants must not have offered any of their entries for publication, or won, or been runner-up in any other Student contests with the same project or work submitted for the Odysseus II contest.
• The submitted work in all categories must include original artwork, data, enquiry, fabrication, models, or experimentation by the contestants
• Participants agree not to include in their entry material that infringes and/or violates any third party’s intellectual property rights, including but not limited to, copyright or trademark rights, or rights of privacy or publicity.
• Third party material may be used sparingly, with the correct attribution.
• Any kind of plagiarism is strictly prohibited and will lead to disqualification of participants; duplication of the thoughts or work of another person is allowed but it must be referenced.

In the Skywalker picture category all submissions will be judged by online voting by the contestants themselves. Pioneer and Explorer projects will be evaluated in three stages: nationally, regionally and internationally. For more information on the evaluation process, see the Rules on the Skywalkers, Pioneers and Explorers pages.

• Entry materials will not be returned, and as property of the “Odysseus II project”, may be used for publicity, public exhibition, outreach and other non-profit purposes.
• After the closing of submissions, all entries will be made accessible to the public via the Odysseus II Contest web portal.
• Registration by a team gives the Odysseus II contest the right to publish the name, age and nationality of the winning team members on the Odysseus II website.
• The organizers of the contest may ask a team to send the physical objects associated with their entry to Brussels for an exhibition. The cost for shipping the objects will be paid for by the organizers.
• The members of the winning teams from the European finals will act as European Youth Space Ambassadors and will participate in outreach activities immediately after the final.  This will include interviews and stories for the Odysseus II Contest website and other EU outreach initiatives.

• Late entries submitted after midnight (CET) of the specified last date for submissions for the Odysseus II Contest, and entries not complying with contest rules, legal terms and guidelines provided on the contest website, will be disqualified, at the sole discretion of the contest organizers.
• The decisions of the evaluation panels and judges are final and no appeals or negotiations will be conducted with participating teams, their teachers-leaders or mentors.
• Teams found to be in breach of the rules set out here will be disqualified from the Odysseus II Contest.
• Inappropriate behaviour during trips to the regional semi-finals or European final can lead to disqualification and being sent home early, at the discretion of the organizers of the final in question.

• Team teacher-leaders and Student contestants are expected to be familiar with the contest rules, including the fine print.
• Every ‘Pioneer’ team must have a teacher-leader and every Skywalker contestant should have a teacher, family member or youth leader to assist them.
• Mentors provide purely technical and scientific advice to ‘Pioneer’ and ’Explorer’ teams or contestants, and there is no limit on the number of submissions they can act as advisor for.
• For more information also see the Pioneers page (for teacher-leaders) and the section Mentors and Evaluators.

• The Odysseus II contest is organized by an international consortium of institutions from 10 EU countries, funded by the European Commission and managed by the Signosis consulting company, Brussels. A full list of consortium members is published on the Odysseus II Contest website and other communication channels and social media selected by the organizers.
• The organizers provide the web-based infrastructure with which the contestants register their participation and submit their projects for evaluation. Voting for the best Skywalker pictures in each country will also be done through the Odysseus II Contest website.
• The local organizers in each EU country will arrange a mentor network as a resource to contestants in the ‘Pioneer’ and ‘Explorer’ categories.
• The organizers will request information about the participants’ gender and nationality, but this information will be used for statistical purposes only, not as participation or judging criteria.
• The organizers will also publish on the website information about the degree of participation in the contest by country, age, and gender.
• The organizers reserve the right to modify or amend the prizes, rules, terms and conditions of the contest at any time, if they can demonstrate just cause.

• The prizes of the Odysseus II Contest winners and runners-up are non-negotiable and non-transferable. A cash equivalent cannot be substituted for the prizes.
• The Organizers reserve the right to request the return of a prize, within half a year of it being awarded, if a team or individual ‘Explorer’ entrant has been discovered to be in breach of the rules set out in this document.