Yuri Milner and his wife Julia committed to supporting science and the communication of scientific ideas in their Giving Pledge. As part of this philanthropic effort, the Breakthrough Junior Challenge was created. The Breakthrough Junior Challenge is an annual competition that has been taking place since 2015. This contest is designed to spur creative thinking and communication skills in the field of science. Students between the ages of 13 and 17 from countries across the world create and submit videos that are about 90 seconds in length. These videos must bring a concept or theory pertaining to life sciences, physics, or mathematics to life. The submissions are judged, and a winner is announced.

The Rules Pertaining to the Breakthrough Junior Challenge

The Breakthrough Junior Challenge, created by Yuri and Julia Milner, does have rules to keep things fair. Submissions must be submitted between April 1, 2022, and June 25, 2022. Individuals must be between the ages of 13 and 18 to participate. You must be 13 by April 1, 2022, and you must be younger than 19 as of October 1, 2022. If you are a minor, you must have your parent’s or legal guardian’s permission to participate in the contest. Entries are limited to individuals and must be solely the content of the person who created them.

Prizes That Can Be Won

The Breakthrough Junior Challenge is a big deal because it encourages kids to understand and share scientific ideas, motivated in part by the huge prizes awarded at the end of the contest. The winner of the Breakthrough Junior Challenge receives a $250,000 post-secondary scholarship. In addition to this, a $50,000 prize is awarded to your teacher to help support their teaching efforts for future students, and a $100,000 Breakthrough Science lab is awarded to your school.

Yuri Milner’s Intention Behind Founding the Challenge

Yuri Milner is an Israeli science philanthropist and technology investor. In 2012, Yuri Milner, Julia Milner, Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan, Mark Zuckerberg, and Anne Wojcicki launched the Breakthrough Prizes. This is a worldwide program designed to award scientific awards to anyone who had important and recent achievements in the fields of fundamental physics, life sciences, and mathematics. The idea behind these prizes was to encourage scientists to explore the world around them and make discoveries and to reward them for those discoveries. This program evolved, and in 2015, Yuri and Julia Milner launched the Breakthrough Junior Challenge to help get students involved in these fields.

The Past Winners

The Breakthrough Junior Challenge first began in 2015. The very first winner was Ryan Chester. In 2016, there were two winners, Deanna See and Antonella Masini. In 2017, Hilary Diana Andales was the final winner. In 2018, the award went to Samay Godika. In 2019, Jeffrey Chen was the proud winner. Maryam Tsegaye won in 2020. And in 2021, Amber Kwok won the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, and Gornekk Suwattanapong was the recipient of a special Space Exploration category award.

How Interested Individuals Can Apply

If you are interested in applying, you will need to create an account through the sign-up portal. You will then be asked to answer some questions about yourself to ensure you are eligible to participate. Once you create your account, you will be provided with an in-depth form that lists the rules and gives you some guidance as to what the judges are looking for in your submission. It’s up to you to complete your video and upload it by June 25, 2022.

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