Another Hungarian on the international podium! In Katowice, Poland, the most talented young people from 37 countries compared their skills at the 35th European Union Young Scientists Competition, to which the students representing Hungary were delegated by the Hungarian Innovation Association. At the European Championship, Márton Hegedes received two awards, the Special Competition Prize and the Third Prize.
The finals of the European Union Young Scientists Competition, the prestigious talent search competition organised annually by the European Union – which is attended by high school students selected from among 65,000 young people from 37 countries around the world – will be held from 9 to 14 September this year. Held in Katowice between
Among young people aged 14-20, Hungary was recognized by the Hungarian Innovation Association in 2023/2024. The innovators of the three applications for the first prize of the 33rd National Olympiad on Science and Innovation held in
- Aklan Lariona student of Budapest Fazekas Mihaly Giacorlo Primary and Secondary School, “Quantum magnetism – a model of measurement technology based on the Zeeman effect”. With its application. Consultants: Dorothea Schneider and Christoph Toth
- Marton Hegedesa student at the reform high school in Kecskemét[2]Katinan – together or apart? C. With his work. His advisors: Imre Toth and Marc-Marcel Bogner
- Zsombor Horvatha student at Budapest Fazekas Mihaly Giacorlo Primary and Secondary School, “Virtual Reception, Virtual Reception Program.” With its application.
The first two rounds of the four-stage Young Scientists Competition are organized by the participating countries, from which a maximum of the best are selected. An international jury in Brussels gives its opinion on 3 projects. The selected candidates then participate in a three-day presentation linked to the exhibition, where the international jury makes the final decision during interviews.
At the 35th European Union Young Scientists Competition in Katowice this year, 90 projects and 150 students from 37 countries competed against each other.
Martin Hegedes won the European Championship Special Prize and was therefore invited to the EU Pavilion at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, in conjunction with his project at the third Expo. He also received a prize of 3,500 euros. The 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Fraser Stoddart and Ben Feringa for their research into molecular machines, a new field with many future applications.
Marton's research, linked to this Nobel Prize-winning work, is a super-light-responsive molecular unit, powered by a photoconverter. [2]Focuses on the design and synthesis of catenanes that can be deformed under UV light.
During this research, he produced and described a prototype, and is now working on the synthesis of a universally useful catenane equipped with a thiophene linker that may hold promise in other areas.
Marton graduated from Kecskemét Reformed High School and is currently a first-year chemistry student at Eötvös Loránd University.
The Hungarian delegation was headed by Gabor Ivanka, member of the OTIO jury and President of MAFITUD.
Featured Image: Hungary National Team
