The Baltic science and engineering competition for schoolchildren has existed since 2005. In conditions where research activities at school were far on the periphery of the education system, enthusiasts were able to create their own competition, which ran counter to Olympiad traditions.
In 2008, 5 winners of the Baltic Science and Engineering Competition confirmed their high results at the World Competition in the USA. Sergey Bakulin and Mikhail Shkolnikov (now bright mathematicians) became winners of the 4th and 3rd degree Grand Awards at Intel-ISEF, and three programmer guys from FML No. 30 of St. Petersburg won the 1st degree Grand Award for a team project. Such success has rarely been achieved by regional teams at a world tournament.
Many stars lit up at the competition: Gadzhi Osmanov, after whom the Minor Planet of the Solar System was named in 2011, Danya Fialkovsky, who thundered on all TV channels after winning the World Review-Competition of Scientific Works of Schoolchildren in 2015. The winner of the Baltic scientific and engineering competition 2016 is a young roboticist from Moscow, who brought his work to St. Petersburg three times and achieved victory in the finals of the world tournament for the project “6-axis robotic manipulator for automation of small enterprises.”
Since the 90s, there have been many attempts by the ideologists of the scientific approach to explain that Olympic thinking is a natural gift, that few children are born with “sprint” intellectual abilities, and such children cannot be raised, but it is necessary to develop analytical children who are capable of thoughtful thinking. and deeply understand the problem posed to them, and only such work in managing school scientific research can be the basis for training highly professional personnel. However, all of them were shattered by the philistine understanding of the values of the Olympiads, and also, most likely, by the priorities of the leadership, which did not allow for any labor-intensive and financially costly transformations. Actually, the stereotype that “school science is a myth”, that scientific research is written for schoolchildren by their supervisors, is still actively prevalent in society.
But it was not the dominance of the “Olympiad approach” that slowed down the development of the Baltic scientific and engineering competition. At its peak, when the number of participants in 2008 increased from 50 in 2004 to 250 in 2008, the Unified State Exam was introduced in Russia. Russian schoolchildren took the last oral exam (in literature) in 2008. From that moment on, scientific activities at school began to run counter to school practice.
The need to prepare for testing did not give eleventh-graders the opportunity to write scientific research. Such work had no practical value even upon admission, because preparation for testing required completely different skills. School teachers, even if at the beginning of 2000 they were not alien to the practice of scientific management of school projects, saw the senselessness and futility of such work.
As a result, the Baltic competition was saved for 3 whole years by the fact that it was unexpectedly included in the List of Russian Olympiads for schoolchildren of the Russian Union of Rectors. This made it possible to issue diplomas to the winners in the sections of mathematics and biology, which were equivalent to Unified State Examination certificates - 100 points in the corresponding subject.
But in 2011, all scientific competitions, except for the All-Russian “Junior” competition, were excluded from the “List of All-Russian Olympiads for schoolchildren”, and the Baltic competition became a “thing in itself”, interesting insofar as it was interesting and important for directors and teachers of specific schools to engage in research activities with schoolchildren.
Photo from the organizers' archive
Today, when talking to the leaders of the Laboratory of Continuing Mathematical Education and the organizing committee of the Baltic Science and Engineering Competition, the intonation is respectful.
When we pull out piles of collections of scientific works of schoolchildren - participants in various all-Russian scientific competitions, show rows of certificates and diplomas with which the walls of LNMO are hung, introduce our graduates - candidates of sciences, heads of companies - our guests are surprised, even if they were familiar with our achievements.
And they remember the emergency landing of a Tu-154M in 2010, which was a success because the runway of the half-abandoned Izhma airport had been cleaned by director Sergei Sotnikov for many years, cleaned just like that, because it was necessary...
They complain that yes - fundamental education, a systematic approach is the basis, but even at the level of state pathetics these ideas do not sound at all... They sigh that modern concepts (if, of course, they can be called concepts) are focused on applied science, on specific, tangible results.
They nod understandingly: yes, of course. You are a stronghold, an outpost, you are at the forefront of modern education. You hold our boundaries. You are a strategic object, the very one where real Russian mathematicians are trained, and it’s not for nothing that in many graduates of 25 people there are 10-12 graduate students, 6-8 candidates of sciences...
Directors of large companies, foundations, public organizations - everyone sighs tragically: “Well, you’re holding on somehow...”.
Well, that's how we hang on.
What are we holding on to? What are we focusing on? What is the absolute value in LNME, where a unique educational system has been built to attract schoolchildren to scientific activities and in the depths of which the Time of Science Foundation was created by graduates of LNME?
Children
The main thing is motivated children who are ready to work 8-10 classroom hours a day. Such children can and should learn within the framework of a complete system, where all elements of the educational process are interconnected.
Education is a lot of work, and you need to learn it in school. Huge workloads, which always underlie a good education, never turn into routine at LNME. Each student first develops a cognitive need, which turns into cognitive interest in the subject and gives the learning process a personal meaning: the student knows why he is acquiring knowledge, developing skills and developing skills.
The goal of training is the creation of serious scientific research. This meaning encourages the student to plan his actions and then carry them out independently, working within the framework of the school curriculum (37 academic hours), then in lectures and additional classes (seminars, conferences, etc.). All this is complemented by trips, excursions, writing scientific research and becomes an interesting, eventful and vibrant part of life. For many of our graduates, this life continues after graduation.
Photo from the organizers' archive
Bright goal
The learning should be based on a clear goal that is set for the student to create his own scientific research or project. In modern conditions, a living and practical independent task that allows a student to express himself, and the goal of receiving a prize and gaining the public status of the winner of a major scientific competition, can become a real catalyst for obtaining a serious fundamental education and building a scientific career. This is precisely why the Baltic Science and Engineering Competition was created in 2005. This is a whole scientific holiday with elements of competition, so that it becomes an incentive for organizing the educational process, in other words, so that “thinking becomes pleasant and necessary.”
Teachers
Scientific communication occupies an important, if not the main, place in the work of any researcher. If we set our highest goal to educate a scientist, then it is necessary not only to give him a formal education and organize his work in a scientific seminar, his individual work with a scientific supervisor, his participation in conferences, and the opportunity to access information. It is important that the entire teaching staff, and not just scientific supervisors and heads of special courses, are able to teach school subjects as scientific disciplines.
High requirements
The opportunity to set very high tasks for children - both mathematical analysis in the 8th grade, and the combination of three specialized subjects in the curriculum, and the creation of scientific work - this is the formation of personality.
Methods of scientific knowledge of the world allow the child to form an idea of the reality around him. In the course of even a small research work, schoolchildren themselves discover the laws of the world around them, get to the bottom of the truth and reasons for certain events and facts, if they are given a serious task.
This is how a much deeper, genuine understanding of the world, a truly personal concept of the universe, is achieved. Subsequently, on the basis of “inclusion” in serious science, a person develops a philosophical approach to life, and this is not to mention the fact that he simply knows how to build his life with a specific goal in mind.
The moral aspect is such that for a person who has created a scientific research in school and won an international competition, the concepts of “family”, “homeland”, “school” will not be empty words.
Most of the schoolchildren who took part and won the Intel-ISEF finals in the USA are engaged in scientific activities and work in Russia. A truly favorable environment not only creates a successful person capable of achieving his goals, it develops a citizen who is aware of how his activities are connected with the life of the school, city, and country.
Photo from the organizers' archive
Communication with alumni
LNMO teams include university teachers and scientists. But the main ones in the learning process are young students, graduate students, young scientists - school graduates. Communicating with them at seminars, at summer school, at conferences, the student acquires the skills of communicating with highly intelligent young people, sees with his own eyes the results that intellectual activity gives, and feels like a partner in relation to everyone who is engaged in scientific research.
Friendly environment
Just as adult scientific teams are always more harmonious than any other professional communities, so school teams focused on scientific research have fewer problems. Collaboration with equal scientists, whose scientific results may be important and interesting for other members of the team, creates a friendly atmosphere. Indeed, any researcher is happy when his work is of interest, when it is read, when his articles are in demand.
In children's research teams, the creative atmosphere also forms the beginnings of cooperation. At the seminars, teenagers learn to analyze serious problems, actively participating in the process of co-creation, and share the intermediate results of their work with each other. In such a system, cooperation prevails over competition, since everyone deals with different problems, presenting their results only at the stages of interaction. As a result, everyone feels like a unique individual, existing in an atmosphere of equal partnership.
A traditional school, on the contrary, is focused on specialized groups of students: classes or specialized areas, within which there are no mechanisms for cooperation.
This often leads to antagonistic relationships between students, competition and, ultimately, the notorious sports rivalry. In LNMO, an attempt was made to take into account the shortcomings of a traditional school and a different model of a children's team was built.
Photo from the organizers' archive
Availability
Education should be accessible, participation in competitions should be open and free.
The more a teenager sees attention to his successes and concern for his development, the greater efforts he will make to improve himself, the greater the return will follow in the future. This seems to be an axiom.
The task of education can be considered successful only if the child feels needed in the family, at school, in society, in the state. Motivation by duty is primary; The greater the demands placed on a teenager by those around him, the higher the goals they set, the faster the result will be and the faster the costs of education will pay off.
What are we giving up in our activities?
- from the “Olympiad approach” in the education system, focused on competition and victory in intellectual competition;
- from consumerism;
- away from meaningless and unattractive goals such as exit testing;
- from all kinds of ratings that create competition among children;
- from education as commerce;
- from any compromises that force us to abandon our core principles.
Support from the Dynasty Foundation since 2011 has consolidated the success: if in 2006 50 studies were presented at the Competition, then in 2016 more than 900 applications for participation were submitted at the qualifying stage alone, and 356 projects were accepted into the finals.
Since fundamental education and the involvement of schoolchildren in scientific activities have not been declared in any way even at the level of state pathetics (specifically scientific, and not so-called “project activities”), the fate of the Baltic scientific and engineering competition today remains unclear even for its creators.
Where is the support that will allow us to develop competition that goes against all and sundry trends is unclear.
The organizers invite everyone who thinks about the future of Russian science and education to help the project preserve the tradition of accessible participation in the Competition. Introducing a registration fee and making the competition paid means losing an entire generation of Russian engineers and scientists.
Competition website: http://baltkonkurs.ru/
Baltic Science and Engineering Competition held in St. Petersburg since 2005. Now this is one of the largest scientific competitions for schoolchildren in Russia, combining strict judging of scientific projects by scientists and university teachers and modern traditions in organizing scientific youth holidays.
Time of Science Foundation, ITMO University and ANO World of Science organize a competition for more than 300 young scientists from different cities of Russia, for more than 300 representatives of the Competition jury, for more than 2000 St. Petersburg schoolchildren- guests of the competition, scientific leaders from the regions, for heads of companies and enterprises evaluating research. School, science and business are combined here on one site.
Young researchers invited to the finals of the Competition spend the day working at a poster exhibition, presenting their project up to 20 times. On the first day of the exhibition, the level of their projects is assessed by a scientific and teacher jury, selecting candidates for the main awards of the Competition.
30 doctors of science, more than 70 candidates of science, graduate students, teachers of universities in St. Petersburg and Russia, Ukraine, Belarus award diplomas of the Competition and the main prize - the crystal ball "Perfection as Hope".
8 sections of the Competition - mathematics, physics, chemistry, ecology, technology, biology, programming and robotics. In these sections, only non-referential projects containing an element of scientific discovery can be presented.
By defending the work displayed on the demonstration stand, the student proves in an open dialogue that his research contains an element of scientific discovery, it has developed new methods for solving the problem, it has practical significance, thereby learning to build a scientific and business career.
The next day The exhibition-fair is open to representatives of Russian business, famous programmers, journalists, parents of future young researchers, the best St. Petersburg schoolchildren, for everyone who is interested in the future of Russian science. Direct live communication with gifted schoolchildren allows them to assess the prospects of the personnel market, the level of education and professional skills of modern schoolchildren, identify the most interesting projects, and invite children for an internship at the company. St. Petersburg schoolchildren - guests of the Competition at this site can receive topics for future research from the heads of St. Petersburg companies and enterprises for presentation at the next Competition.
On the second day of the exhibition-fair, companies and enterprises hold presentations of their innovative developments.
Winners Baltic scientific and engineering competition are included in team to participate in the Intel-ISEF World Showcase of Scientific and Engineering Achievements of Students. 12 times in the ten-year history of the Competition, they confirmed the high level of their work, becoming winners and prize-winners of the most prestigious scientific competition for schoolchildren in the world.
At the ceremony The awards ceremony for the winners of young scientists is honored by representatives of the state and authorities, heads of companies and enterprises sponsoring the Competition.
The organizers have managed to keep it free for participants for 12 years. Non-resident competitors are traditionally provided with free accommodation during the four days of the Competition.
The Baltic Science and Engineering Competition is a platform for training a new generation of Russian scientistsThe project is dedicated to the preparation and holding of the Baltic scientific and engineering competition, aimed at developing scientific projects and research among schoolchildren aged 13-18 years.
The competition is held in 8 thematic areas - mathematics and applied mathematics, system programming and computer technology, physics and astronomy, biology and geosciences, ecology, chemistry, technology, robotics.
The competition is organized in several stages. In the correspondence stage, more than 2,000 schoolchildren present their projects and scientific works at the sites of partners of the Time of Science Foundation in the regions of Russia, as well as through the Document Management and Registration System of the Baltic Competition. At the full-time stage of the competition, about 350 of the best projects are presented in St. Petersburg in front of a jury that includes famous scientists and representatives of business companies.
The final of the Competition is organized as a scientific festival. In particular, within the framework of the Baltic Scientific and Engineering Competition, on the third day of the Competition, the “Space of Intellectual Attraction” is held, where about 2000 St. Petersburg schoolchildren in grades 6-10 get acquainted with the projects of their peers-finalists, take part in 30-40 lectures, master classes, hackathons, workshops organized for them by universities and companies. Every year, as part of the Competition, a large-scale conference is held for scientific leaders of school research teams to improve the quality of methodological work with gifted students.
The Competition has developed unique selection criteria that allow the jury to include the best scientists in the Russian team to participate in the finals of the Intel-ISEF World Review-Competition of Scientific and Engineering Achievements of Schoolchildren. 13 times the winners of the Competition were awarded the Grand Award at the World Competition. In 2017, tenth-grader Savely Novikov again confirmed his victory at the Baltic competition in the finals of the international competition. In addition, some projects receive support from companies interested in their implementation.
An important principle of the Baltic Competition is that there are no barriers to participation for talented children. Therefore, the Competition does not have a registration fee, and nonresident participants are provided with free food and accommodation, and an excursion program. The organizing committee attracts scientists, university teachers, and company executives to work with talented schoolchildren as volunteers, implementing in practice the interaction of school, science and business.
Tasks
- Informing potential participants and the public about the main events of the Competition - general information about the Competition - informing potential participants of the Competition - informing viewers of the "Space of Intellectual Attraction" - attracting the media
- Involving regional partners - educational and research centers - in the Baltic competition
- Involving companies and enterprises, universities, volunteers to participate in the Baltic Scientific and Engineering Competition and uniting them to train a new generation of Russian scientists
- Improving organizational mechanisms for conducting qualifying regional competitions, correspondence and final stages of the Baltic scientific and engineering competition
- Preparing the team's presentation from the Baltic Science and Engineering Competition at Intel-ISEF
- Formation of a development strategy for the Competition until 2030 through the creation of a permanent organizing committee uniting regular partners of the Competition
Justification of social significance
One of the development priorities of the Russian Federation is the transition from a resource-based economy to a high-tech and knowledge-intensive economy. This is impossible without the development of human capital and the education of scientific personnel, starting from school, without restoring the basic values of Russian society, and above all, the value of fundamental education and scientific activity.The Baltic Science and Engineering Competition contributes to solving this problem, as it creates a guideline for conducting scientific research and projects by schoolchildren from different regions of Russia, and also provides an objective assessment of school scientific work, which is impossible without organizing a large-scale competition. Supporting talented schoolchildren and their teachers in remote regions, creating opportunities for them to communicate with leading scientists and specialists, is especially important for preserving and increasing human capital in the Russian provinces.
The project is a powerful incentive to attract students to educational, scientific and research activities, gives them the opportunity to develop their interests, and helps them build a career in Russia. The selection and encouragement of talented children within the framework of the competition creates an opportunity for the development and practical implementation of their research projects. The exhibition form of the Competition final makes it a celebration of scientific communication and popularization of science for a wide range of students.
The project also makes it possible to preserve and pass on the traditions of conducting scientific work with schoolchildren, formed in the regions of the Russian Federation and St. Petersburg, and to develop various forms of work with schoolchildren gifted with a deep analytical mind, but who do not show themselves within the framework of the Olympiad movement and other traditional competitions. The project helps develop a systematic approach to creating programs and methods for conducting project activities with schoolchildren in science-intensive fields,
In addition, the Baltic Engineering and Scientific Competition brings together the efforts of various organizations - schools, universities, companies, scientific institutes - to develop education in our country.
Geography of the project
Arkhangelsk region, Vladimir region, Belgorod region, Volgograd region, Voronezh region, Ivanovo region, Irkutsk region, Kaliningrad region, Kirov region, Kostroma region. Krasnodar region, Leningrad region, Lipetsk region, Moscow region, Murmansk region, Nizhny Novgorod region, Novosibirsk region, Orenburg region, Penza region, Perm region, Pskov region, Ryazan region, Stavropol region, Republic of Karelia, Republic of Chuvashia, Republic of Bashkortostan, Republic of Tatarstan , Republic of Mari El, Rostov region, Ryazan region, St. Petersburg, Saratov region, Smolensk region, Tomsk region, Komi Republic, Republic of Crimea, Republic of North Ossetia, Republic of Tatarstan, Republic of Chuvashia, Tyumen region, Ulyanovsk region, Chelyabinsk region, Chukotka AO, Yaroslavl regionTarget groups
- Children and teenagers
- Youth and students
The XII Baltic Scientific and Engineering Competition (BC) has begun at ITMO University. More than 300 schoolchildren from Russia and the CIS countries will present their scientific developments at the competition. The main prize is a trip to the international scientific competitions Intel ISEF in the USA and IFSES in Mexico.
The organizers of the Baltic competition position it as a “window to science” for interested schoolchildren.
“All of you are already winners: both those who will receive the main prizes of the competition, and those who will simply take their first step in science by participating in it and showing their work to leading experts. No matter what trajectory you choose for your future path in science, the most important thing is interest», — noted the Vice-Rector for Educational, Organizational and Administrative Work at ITMO University Yuri Kolesnikov, addressing the young participants of the Baltic Competition during the opening ceremony.
The university is the organizer of the competition together with the Time of Science Foundation for supporting young scientists. The Baltic competition is also held with the support of the government of St. Petersburg.
“Information technologies and all related specializations are needed in any profession today. In addition, these are the areas that will advance science and create the future of our country. Therefore, the government of St. Petersburg actively supports engineering disciplines in universities» , - commented the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Science and Higher School of the Administration of St. Petersburg Anna Stepanova.
The Baltic Scientific and Engineering Competition is the largest competition of scientific projects in the North-West, noted the President of the Time of Science Foundation, founder of the BC Ilya Chistyakov. At the same time, the popularity of the competition is growing year by year. So, if in 2005 only 39 people took part in the finals of the competition, this year the jury will evaluate the works of 335 participants from 47 regions of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Contestants will present their developments in seven sections: mathematics, physics, programming, technology, biology, chemistry, ecology.
“We are very pleased that this year the number of finalists in the technology section has increased significantly. This area of science is now especially relevant for Russia; it is one of the priorities» ,” emphasized Ilya Chistyakov.
The finalists' works will be reviewed by four jury teams: scientific, teacher, youth and business juries. Experts will talk with the authors of each project.
« We will evaluate the scientific nature of the project,how new the results are and how deep the research is. The main thing is that the project should not be a reworking of other people’s achievements. It is equally important to evaluate the project presentation skills and the quality of the stand. Firstly, if a person did everything himself, then he will easily talk about his work. Secondly, the winner of international competitions in the USA and Mexico will need high-quality presentation skills", explained the winner of the Baltic competition and Intel ISEF 2015 Danil Fialkovsky, who this year heads the youth jury.
The applied value of the Baltic competition projects will be assessed, first of all, by the business jury. As explained by its chairman, winner of the competition and Intel ISEF 2005 Vasily Dyachenko, the most important thing for a scientist is to understand where and how his development can be used.
« The way the world has developed is that even those companies that launch rockets into space are moving science forward- these are, first of all, private structures, this is a business. One of the problems of science in Russia— this is the difficulty of implementing domestic developments, no matter how innovative they may be. If you look at the biggest success stories, like Google, Apple and others, all these companies were created by people who were not only interested in new technologies, but also had business skills", said the chairman of the business jury.
As a result, the jury must select two teams from the competition participants who will go to present their projects at the Intel ISEF competitions in the USA in May and IFSES in Mexico in April. At the first competition, Russian schoolchildren traditionally show excellent results and receive prizes in various sections. This year, schoolchildren were allowed to participate in the second competition for the first time. We will watch how the winners of the Baltic Science and Engineering Competition perform there.
Natalya Blinnikova,
Editorial staff of the ITMO University news portal