Gemeentelijk Gymnasium Hilversum wins national EUSO 2015

The national final of the European Union Science Olympiad ( EUSO ) was held at the University of Groningen on 30 and 31 January. August Ammerlaan, Paul Dekker and Siebe Peek from Gemeentelijk Gymnasium Hilversum were declared the winners.

Second place went to Sophie van Houwelinge, Wessel Custers and Anouk Volker from Utrechts Stedelijk Gymnasium. The prizes were awarded by Jan Apotheker, from the University of Groningen’s Department of Education. Apotheker praised all 30 finalists for their achievements and said that they were all winners, having already won a regional heat. He wished all the entrants the best of luck in the future and said it would please him greatly if all of these hotshots were to choose to study science or technology.

The two winning teams will represent the Netherlands at the thirteenth international EUSO , which has entrants from almost all EU member states and will take place in Austria from 26 April to 3 May.

The EUSO is an annual competition that aims to boost school students’ interest in science and give them an extra challenge and the chance to excel. Entrants must be 16 years or younger at the start of the competition and must conduct practical research in teams of three to solve interesting problems in the field of physics, chemistry and biology. Alongside knowledge and practical skills, planning, teamwork and the ability to divvy up tasks are important aspects of this team competition.

The students conducted research into the effectiveness of vaccination against yellow fever. They made and purified dyes and then analyzed them with spectroscopic techniques. In the physics experiments, the challenge lay in accurately measuring wavy lines and determining the exact temperature of the filament in a light bulb.

The regional heats were held during this academic year at eight universities (University of Groningen, Radboud University Nijmegen, Eindhoven University of Technology, Leiden University, Maastricht University, University of Twente, Utrecht University and Wageningen University) and the HAN University of Applied Sciences. Some 150 teams entered, and the ten best went through to the national final that is held alternately at Radboud University Nijmegen and the University of Groningen.

The EUSO is the initiative of SLO, Radboud University Nijmegen and the University of Groningen. It is supported by Wageningen University, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) and NVON, a society for science and education. Malmberg Publishers, Noordhoff Publishers, KNCV (The Royal Netherlands Chemical Society), Texas Instruments and the journal Wetenschap in Beeld put up the prizes.