The Odysseus contest challenges students between 14 and 18 years old age from all EU countries to develop a project on space exploration, using their knowledge, creativity and critical thinking. Students wishing to participate must form a team of 2 to 5 members, with a teacher as a coach and prepare and submit a project in one of the contest’s categories: i) Solar System, ii) Spaceship – global cooperation and iii) Co-evolution of life. The entry must be digital and it may take the form of any digital file and could include a project worksheet in the format provided by the organizers and describing the background thinking of the project. The contest will be open from July 2012 to February 2013.
All entries will be assessed and scored on scientific knowledge, practical implementation and creativity by highly experienced evaluators, according to predefined Evaluation Criteria. Three entries per country – one for each category – will be chosen to move forward to the final round of evaluation. Teams that advance to the final round will have to submit a summary of their project in English. In the final round the national winners will be compared and the final three winners (one in each category) will be selected and win a once-in-a-lifetime educational experience in Space Expo in the Netherlands, where they will receive their prizes.