Science Arena
In the Science Arena, students will solve project assignments in different branches of Chemistry, Biology, Biotechnology and Biophysics. The aim is to solve an exercise in the most efficient, realistic and a budget-friendly way.
Hijacking the brain
Have you ever wondered if it were possible to hijack someone’s brain? What would it take? The Science Arena will be exploring small molecules that have the power to become evil rulers of our brains. These molecules can manipulate us, take control of our lives and eventually take some of them. We will uncover their molecular pathways so that we can prevent them from hijacking more brains than they’ve hijacked already.
Project Assignment
The project assignment consists of three related stages. The competition will be organized in three days each of which represents one competition stage. Teams will be given an assignment in the morning, deal with it during the day and present their solutions to supervisors in the afternoon. Team solutions are graded and ranked each day. The best teams will qualify for and compete in the finals in the fourth day of the competition when they will present their solutions to a panel of judges who will announce the winner of the Science Arena.
Who might compete in the Arena
Full time students studying in the field of Natural Sciences and the related subfields of Chemistry, Biology, Biotechnology and Biophysics (recommended but not limited to) can compete in the Science Arena.
Download the results
Download the assignment
Competences
Chemistry
Biochemistry
Organic chemistry
Analytical chemistry
Neurobiology
Cellular and molecular biology
Behavioral genetics
Teamwork
Presentation skills
Problem analysis
Mentoring team
Gabriela Begić
Mentor Team Member, UNIRI
Ana Filošević
Mentor Team Member, UNIRI
Pegi Pavletić
Mentor Team Member, UNIRI
Bobana Samardžija
Mentor Team Member, UNIRI
Vanna Imširović
Mentor Team Member, UNIRIJury
Matija Subašić-Maras
Matija Subašić-Maras is the Human Resources Director at Croatia Insurance Company Plc. She has developed her career in the field of human resources at pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline and PLIVA that were engaged in research and development of new medicines. She graduated with a degree in psychology from Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb.
Alen Berta
Alen Berta, PhD, is the leader of Oikon’s Natural Resource Management Department and Laboratory for Remote Sensing and GIS – LADIGIS. He obtained his PhD from Faculty of Forestry, University of Zagreb. Throughout the 10 years of his work in environmental protection, ecology and forestry, he has led numerous national projects which involved collection of data pertaining to biomass estimation, carbon sequestration and utilization of land resources. His field of interest is application of remote sensing methods in plant ecology which includes big data analytics and machine learning.
Edi Topić
Mentor at the 2018 STEM Games Science Arena.
Assistant professor at the Chemistry department of the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, previously working in the pharmaceutical industry.
Solid-state chemistry, applied science and science popularization enthusiast.
Nicholas J. Bradshaw
I am a British-born cellular neuroscientist, trained in Edinburgh and Düsseldorf. I arrived in Croatia with my family two years ago, and I now teach as an assistant professor at the University of Rijeka, Department of Biotechnology. My research is focused on identifying and understanding proteins involved in the development of chronic mental illnesses, particularly schizophrenia and major depressive disorder.