75 Finalists Selected for the Yuri Milner Breakthrough Junior Challenge

Yuri Milner’s Breakthrough Junior Challenge recognizes promising young high-school students who have a flair for communicating science. This year’s group of applicants has recently been whittled down to 75 who remain. Winners will ultimately be selected from these.

What Is the Breakthrough Junior Challenge?

The Breakthrough Junior Challenge is run by Yuri Milner’s Breakthrough Prize Foundation, and presented. At the annual Breakthrough Prize award ceremony.

The Breakthrough Prize is awarded to some of the most accomplished scientists in Fundamental Physics, Mathematics, and Life Sciences. These scientists have enjoyed long and successful careers and made profound contributions to human knowledge.

The Breakthrough Junior Challenge is awarded to young students who haven’t even started their careers but show great potential in science communication. Applicants aren’t expected to advance knowledge, but rather to show their understanding. They must demonstrate their understanding of a complex concept in Fundamental Physics, Mathematics, or Life Sciences, and communicate their understanding clearly and engagingly.

The Challenge offers multiple monetary awards:

  • $250,000 post-secondary school scholarship
  • $50,000 for the winner’s teacher
  • $100,000 for a Breakthrough science lab at the winner’s school

This challenge was initiated by Julia and Yuri Milner, as part of their Giving Pledge.

Who’s Eligible for the Breakthrough Junior Challenge?

The Junior Challenge is open to burgeoning scientists aged 13 to 18, and students can submit applications for any one of the aforementioned fields (Fundamental Physics, Mathematics, or Life Sciences).

The challenge is separated into seven regions: Asia, Central, and South America, North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, India, the Middle East, and Africa. A regional champion is selected from each region.

What Is the Junior Challenge Judged On?

Applicants must submit original videos that are 1:30 minutes or shorter. The videos are judged on the applicant’s understanding of a complex concept, and their ability to communicate said concept. Their communication is judged according to how engaging, illuminating and imaginative the video is.

What Is the Judging Process for the Junior Challenge?

The Junior Challenge goes through multiple rounds of judging. Initial applications are vetted by a committee, and then a shortlist of 75 applications is chosen. This is the place where the judging currently is, with applications closed and 75 chosen.

The next round is the popular vote stage, which qualifies videos based on how they perform online. The videos that receive the most engagement or likes (on YouTube and/or Facebook) will automatically move onto the final round when five applicants remain. Videos that don’t have the most engagement go through another round of judging by a committee, from which a select few will move on to the final round.

This year’s timeline was as follows. Applications were accepted from April 1 to June 25. They then went through a peer-to-peer review (June 27 to July 10), administrative review (July 10 to July 17), and evaluation panel review (July 18 to August 13) during which the 75 were chosen. Verification then took from August 14 to September 4.

The popular vote challenge takes place now, from September 5 to 20, and finalists and regional champions will be announced on September 21. The winner will be announced in November.

Who Has Won Yuri Milner’s Breakthrough Junior Challenge?

Since the initial giving pledge that Julia and Yuri Milner made, several students have been awarded the winning Breakthrough Junior Challenge prize. Past winners were Amber Kwok (2021), Gornekk Suwattanapong (2021 Space Exploration), Maryam Tsegaye (2020), Jeffery Chen (2019), and Samay Godika (2018).

Last year’s finalists include Farld Chomali Castro, Ben Barnes, Ava Sky Barton, Francine Oren T. Fabricante, Ellen Jannerth, Ari Katz, Eojin Kim, Holden Liu, Siddhant Makkar, Wangari Mbuthia, Faith Nguyen, Michael Nixon, Lydia Taylor, and Amogh Thakkar.

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