'Best 100' projects qualify for next round of Kuwait Science Fair competition

Students on their way to winning full U.S. academic scholarship at Northwestern University
Scholarship at the American University of Kuwait for second place winners
Two internships with Schlumberger
More than KD4,000 in cash prizes

Kuwait, 27 November, 2011: More than 168 students across Kuwait are one step closer to a full international academic scholarship at Northwestern University, after their projects were selected as part of the 'Best 100' in this year's Kuwait Science Fair competition.

The 'Best 100' projects have been judged by a team of teachers and scientists in Kuwait to qualify for the next stage-the experimental stage--of the competition.

Kuwait Science Fair Managing Director, Aseel Al-Turkait, said: "Every year, selecting the 'Best 100' projects becomes more and more challenging. This year, we have seen some of the best and most innovative ideas. Qualifying students will be working round-the-clock for the next three months to develop their scientific ideas into tangible innovations. We congratulate the students who made it this far, and we can't wait to see the final outcome of this year's 'Best 100' projects."

Workshops and guidance:

With the start of the experimental phase, 14 workshops will be held for students with the 'Best 100' projects at the Scientific Center starting November 30. With a team of science experts, the workshops will guide students on how to translate their ideas into live experiments, and help them with the requirements for finalizing their projects, such as the notebook, scientific paper and display.

The first two workshops held on November 30 and December 1, will be preceded by seminars presented by Kuwait University on research methods, providing students with scientific processes to develop their experiments. The first seminar will be held in Arabic and the second in English.

Additionally, the Kuwait Science Fair team will be available regularly at the Kuwait Science Fair booth in Marina Mall on weekdays (Sunday - Thursday) between 5pm - 8pm.

The Kuwait Science Fair has also allocated KD100 for project development expenses. Students must supply receipts signed by their supervising teacher to receive compensation.

Students will start presenting their final projects to a panel of judges three days prior to the awards ceremony. Finalists and grand prize winners will be announced on March 24 in a ceremony held at The Regency Hotel in the presence of His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Mohsin Al-Busairi, Minster of Oil, Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs, and Chairman of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.

Winners and prizes:

Qualified students will compete for the top ten places. The first prize winner will receive a scholarship in the discipline of the student's choice from Northwestern University, the grand prize of KD750 in cash, two certificates for participation and ranking, KD100 in vouchers, as well as an international internship at Schlumberger.

The second prize winner will be offered a scholarship from the American University of Kuwait and will receive a cash prize of KD500, two certificates for participation and ranking, as well as KD100 in gift vouchers.

The third prize winner will receive a cash prize of KD350, two certificates for participation and ranking, as well as KD100 in gift vouchers.

The following qualifying students will compete with their experiments until March 24 for the top ten places:

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About the Kuwait Science Fair (KSF)
The competition was founded in 2008 by ExxonMobil and Kuwait Energy Company, with the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences as an honorary founder, in a commitment to spread math and science excellence for students across Kuwait. The KSF is a five-month-long bilingual competition held annually for students from more than 200 public and private schools across Kuwait over two cycles.

In its fourth year, the competition is endorsed by HE Dr. Mohammed Al-Busairi. The competition is also sponsored by: the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, the Kuwait United Facilities Management Company, Northwestern University, The Scientific Center, Schlumberger, the Environmental Preservation Industrial Company and the American University of Kuwait.

To date, the competition has inspired over[1] 668 students from public and private schools to pursue careers in sciences.

For more information, please contact:
Dareen Awad
Bensirri PR
Mobile: (+965) 98881224
Email: dareen@bensirri.com