For the first time, TÜBİTAK included three students who won the first prize in the TÜBİTAK High School Students Polar Research Projects Competition in the 7th National Antarctic Science Expedition delegation.
The students who ranked first in the 2204-C High School Students Polar Research Projects Competition organized by the TÜBİTAK Scientist Support Program (BİDEB) participated in the 7th National Antarctic Science Expedition organized under the auspices of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey, under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and Technology and under the coordination of TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center (MAM) Polar Research Institute (KARE). The students were accompanied by TÜBİTAK MAM KARE Director and Expedition Coordinator Prof. Dr. Burcu Özsoy.
The students underwent special training before the trip and completed all preparations with the team.
High school students conducted a 3-day field study in the White Continent. The students visited Collins Glacier and Ardley Island, met with scientists at the Chilean Escudero Base on King George Island and asked questions about climate change. Students also had the opportunity to observe polar creatures and melting glaciers in Antarctica.
Prof. Dr. Burcu Özsoy, Director of the TÜBİTAK MAM Polar Research Institute and Coordinator of the 7th National Antarctic Science Expedition, said that they successfully concluded the expedition, "We left Turkey and went to South America. Then we arrived in Antarctica and went home. We had planned base visits. Our students, who came first in the TÜBİTAK Polar Research Competition, had the chance to visit the laboratories in these works and meet scientists."
The students, who produced bioplastics from acorns, noted that while the dissolution tests of the material they produced took 45 days on average in the tests they applied in water, acid and basic environment, this period was faster in the tests they conducted in Antarctica.
TUBITAK Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (BİDEB) is organizing the "2204-C High School Students Polar Research Projects Competition" in order to encourage high school students to conduct scientific studies, to direct students' studies to polar research and to contribute to the development of their existing scientific studies.
In the competition opened in 2022, 134 students with 60 projects qualified for the final stage. At the final exhibition of the competition held at the Çotanak Sports Complex in Giresun, students competed in 4 research themes. As a result of the competition, a total of 25 projects won awards, including 4 first prizes, 7 second prizes, 10 third prizes and 4 incentive prizes. Project owners received their awards from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at TEKNOFEST 2022, which was held in Samsun on August 30 - September 4, 2022.
