116 entries in Viksu 2011

The 14th round of Viksu, the Academy of Finland’s science competition for senior secondary students, is now closed. The deadline for entries for the 2011 round was 28 November. The Academy received a total of 116 entries from 32 upper secondary schools. The 2011 round attracted entries from 127 students: 107 individual entries, seven entries by pairs and two by groups. Eighty girls and 47 boys are participating in the competition. Last year, there were nearly as many boys as girls, but this round the girls were once again more active.

The Viksu science competition comprises two categories, one for students studying for the national matriculation examination and the other for students studying for the International Baccalaureate examination. This time, the national category attracted 44 entries and the international category 72 entries. Half of the entries were written in English, half in Finnish. There were no entries in Swedish this year.

Draw between the most popular subjects

The humanities and social sciences, with 63 entries in total, was once again the most popular field among the students. Natural sciences received 25 entries, biosciences and environmental research 15 entries and health research 13 entries. Interestingly for this year, the number of entries in the field of health research was up nearly 50 per cent on previous rounds.

The most popular subjects remained very much the same as in previous years. The most popular subjects were history and the Finnish language and literature, with 17 entries each. Other popular subjects were psychology (15), economics (11), chemistry (10) and mathematics (6). “It’s nice to see that students also show interest in more ‘uncommon’ subjects such as sport sciences, music and religion,” said Terhi Loukiainen, Communications Specialist at the Academy of Finland.

Distribution by school

The most active upper secondary school was Tampereen lyseon lukio, with 19 entries. Helsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu and Joensuun lyseon lukio shared second place, with 12 entries each. Valkeakosken Tietotien lukio entered nine entries and Tikkurilan lukio eight entries. This year also saw some new upper secondary schools entering the Viksu competition, such as Nousiaisten lukio, Pomarkun lukio and Vammalan lukio. There was even one entry from as far away as Costa Rica.

The process continues

Now the Academy is hard at work trying to find suitable experts to review the entries submitted to the Viksu competition. Viksu entries are reviewed by, for example, Academy Research Fellows working in Finland. Based on feedback we have received, the reviewers seem to really enjoy reading Viksu entries. The reviewers draft review statements on the entries, and these are then used to pick the best entries for the next stage of evaluation.

In early spring, the Academy will convene an evaluation panel to review the entries that have made their way past the first stage. This panel includes one professor from each of the Academy’s four Research Councils, one representative of the National Board of Education, the Chair of the Union of Finnish Upper Secondary School Students, and the Communications Specialist from the Academy of Finland responsible for the competition. The panel makes a recommendation on winning entries to the President of the Academy.

Winners announced in April

Prizes are awarded to the 5–7 best entries in both categories. The 2011 competition also includes a special prize (EUR 1000) for the best entry in the field of chemistry. This brings the total to a maximum of 15 winning entries. Successful schools and active teachers will also receive prizes. The total prize money is EUR 30,000. The winners will be notified personally in spring 2012.

All Viksu participants receive written feedback on their entries. The Academy will send an email about the feedback in May 2012 at the latest.