RULES

Topics:

• Geosciences: What is the long-term heat balance of Earth? How did its internal temperature decay since it formed by accretion of chondrites? How abundant are radiogenic elements in the interior? Did a "faint young Sun" ever warm a "snowball Earth"?

• Astronomy: How do the most distant quasars grow their supermassive black holes up to 1010 solar masses so early in the history of the universe (with redshift greater than 6 to 7)?

• Biology: How does the brain think and form memories?

• Biology: What is the folding code? What is the folding mechanism? Can the native structure of a protein be predicted from its amino acid sequence? Is it possible to predict the secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure of a polypeptide sequence based solely on the sequence and environmental information? 

• Neurosciences: Quantum Mind-Does quantum mechanical phenomena, such as entanglement and superposition, play an important part in the brain's function and can it explain critical aspects of consciousness?

• Neurosciences: Does the mind not only exist in the brain, but also functions in the outside world by using physical objects as mental processes? Just as prosthetic limbs can become part of the body, can handwritten notes become part of the mind?

• Physics: In quantum mechanics, time is a classical background parameter, and the flow of time is universal and absolute. In general relativity, time is one component of four-dimensional spacetime and the flow of time changes depending on the curvature of spacetime and the spacetime trajectory of the observer. How can these two concepts of time be reconciled?

1. Eligibility: The competition is open to students from grades 9 to 12.

2. Team Composition: Each team should consist of 3 students.

3. Presentation Duration: The presentation should last 7 minutes, followed by a 3-minute Q&A session.

4. Topic Selection: Participants must select a topic from the provided list and present a hypothesis related to the scientific topic in an innovative and engaging manner. The competition highlights creativity alongside the STEAM principles.

5. Participants should create an attractive PowerPoint Presentation to support their hypothesis and present it. 

6. Presentation Format: Presentations can include PowerPoint slides, animations, models, or other creative formats.

7. Evaluation Criteria: Presentations will be judged based on the accuracy of the content, the formulation of a testable hypothesis, creativity, delivery, and the effectiveness of the Q&A session.

8. Respectful Behaviour: All participants are expected to maintain a respectful and professional demeanour throughout the competition, whether interacting with the sharks, fellow contestants, or event organizers.

9. Intellectual Property: All ideas and concepts presented during the competition remain the intellectual property of the respective teams. However, by participating, contestants grant permission for the competition organizers to share their products, ideas, and concepts for promotional purposes.

10. Disqualification: Any violation of the rules, unethical behaviour, or failure to comply with the instructions provided by the event organizers may result in disqualification.