In a first-of-its-kind initiative, TÜBİTAK included three students who won first place in the TÜBİTAK High School Students’ Polar Research Projects Competition as members of the 7th National Antarctic Science Expedition team.

The students who won first place in the 2204-C High School Students’ Polar Research Projects Competition, organized by the TÜBİTAK Presidency of the Science Human Resources Support Program (BİDEB), under the patronage of the Presidency and administered by the Ministry of Industry and Technology, and coordinated by the Institute of Polar Research (KARE) at the TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center (MAM). The students were accompanied by Prof. Dr. Burcu Özsoy, Director of TÜBİTAK MAM KARE and Expedition Coordinator.

The students underwent special training before the trip and completed all preparations together with the team.

High school students conducted a 3-day field study on the White Continent. The students, who visited the Collins Glacier and Ardley Island, met with scientists at the Chilean Escudero Station on King George Island and asked them questions about climate change. The students also had the opportunity to observe polar wildlife and melting glaciers in Antarctica.

Prof. Dr. Burcu Özsoy, Director of the TÜBİTAK MAM Institute of Polar Research and Coordinator of the 7th National Antarctic Science Expedition, also explained that they had successfully completed the expedition, saying, “We departed from Turkey and traveled to South America. We then arrived in Antarctica and made our way to our home base. We had planned visits to various research stations. We carried out these base visits. Not only did we complete our visits, but our students—who won first place in the TÜBİTAK Polar Research Competition—also had the opportunity to visit the laboratories involved in this work and meet with scientists.”.

Students producing bioplastic from oak acorns noted that, while conducting dissolution tests on the material they produced, the average duration of the tests in water, acidic, and basic environments was 45 days, whereas the process was faster in the tests they conducted in Antarctica.

The Presidency of the TÜBİTAK Science and Research Personnel Support Program (BİDEB), is organizing the “2204-C High School Students” Polar Research Projects Competition” to encourage high school students to engage in scientific research, direct their work toward polar research, and contribute to the advancement of their existing scientific projects.

In the competition launched in 2022, 134 students—the creators of 60 projects—qualified for the final round. At the final exhibition of the competition, held at the Çotanak Sports Complex in Giresun, students competed in four research categories. As a result of the competition, a total of 25 projects won awards, including 4 first-place, 7 second-place, 10 third-place, and 4 encouragement awards. The project creators received their awards from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at TEKNOFEST 2022, held in Samsun from August 30 to September 4, 2022.