Vinsers won gold medals at two international science competitions
Representing Vietnam at the 10th World Invention Creativity Olympic (WICO 2020) in South Korea and The Elementz Science Project Competition & Exhibition in Singapore, Vinsers brought home 3 gold medals and 1 silver medal.
At the WICO 2020, the studies on chemical constituents and antibacterial properties of stingless bee propolis and generation of high-yield cordyceps strains won 2 gold medals.
At The Elementz Science Project Competition & Exhibition, the cordyceps project won one more silver medal, and a gold medal was awarded to the project “IoT application in measuring the capacity of automatic sun-tracking solar panels, analyzing and sending statistical data to the mobile app”.
These are prestigious international science competitions held annually in South Korea and Singapore, attracting thousands of students from various countries around the globe such as the US, Canada, New Zealand, China, etc. Competitors will have their products appraised by the world’s leading scientists. Proactively accustoming themselves to the specific requirements of each competition, Vinsers successfully demonstrated their creativity by making scientific reports in the form of lively videos with the support and guidance of their devoted mentors.
Video: Report of the Study on chemical constituents and antibacterial properties of stingless bee propolis by Grade 10 Vinsers (Nguyen Tu Minh, Nguyen Phan Ngoc Minh, and Truong Vinh Xuan).
Besides quality scientific reports, Vinsers also impressed the judges with their abilities to design creative, vivid posters and videos and deliver their presentations in English very fluently. The gold and silver medals were worth their tireless efforts to conduct experiments, carry out research, collect, and analyze data.
“I felt very surprised and proud upon learning that we won a gold medal. Our hard work for a year has paid off”, shared Nguyen Tu Minh (Grade 10).
Nurturing passion for science
All members of these 3 study groups are Secondary and High school students from Vinschool’s Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) Center. Notably, some of them are only in grade 8.
“I was overwhelmed by the specialized knowledge offered by experts and the strict procedures in the lab when we first came to the GATE Center and embarked on this project. Thanks to the experiences we had, our scientific research capacity goes beyond what is normally expected from high school students”, shared Truong Vinh Xuan (Grade 10).
With particular attention paid to talent search and development, throughout the brainstorming and project implementation processes, GATE Center brought its students opportunities to receive direct guidance from experts who are PhDs in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Genetic Engineering from the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) and the Hanoi University of Education (HNUE).
In the lab of the Institute of Marine Biochemistry – VAST, Dr. Le Nguyen Thanh was mentoring Tu Minh’s group on their stingless bee propolis project.
“I highly appreciate the students’ talent, especially their perseverance. They have been pursuing these scientific projects for a long time, even for years”, shared Mr. Nguyen Tien Long, Coordinator for Math & Science at Vinschool, also the study groups’ mentor.
Vinsers’ project on generation of high-yield cordyceps strains won a bronze medal at The Elementz Science Project Competition & Exhibition in Singapore in 2019. However, it was taken to new heights this year: more study samples and hybridization methods facilitated selection of the most optimal method. These advanced strains are expected to have lower production costs.
High-yield cordyceps strains generated from 2 hybridization methods – Vinsers’ prideworthy research outcomes
Thanks to their efforts to generate high-yield strains of cordyceps (a type of mushroom with high value and many beneficial properties such as immunomodulation, blood fat reduction, resistance to blood cancer cells, etc.) with ascosporic hybridization, Vinsers won big at 2 prestigious competitions this year (1 gold medal, 1 silver medal).
Leaving their imprint in international science competitions, the young talents have brought pride to Vietnam. Hopefully, such achievements will fuel their passion for scientific research and motivate them to contribute further to society.
