This week-end, on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 March 2021, the Fondation Jeunes Scientifiques Luxembourg (FJSL) is organising the 50th national Jonk Fuerscher contest and the 11th Expo-Sciences Luxembourg as a hybrid event both at the Forum Campus Geesseknäppchen and virtually via https://fjsl.illuxi.com.
Given the current circumstances, the FJSL had to elaborate an unprecedented format that both allows the young scientists to present their projects and favours cultural exchange between national and international participants, while all accessible to the local audience.
For this purpose, a virtual platform has been created specifically designed for the needs of participants, where each project - both national and international - will have their own virtual booth for the audience to visit. This platform is accessible to everybody with a computer, tablet or smartphone and a stable internet connection via the above link.
Meanwhile, each national team participating at the contest is invited individually to the Forum Campus Geesseknäppchen to present their project in person on stage in front of the jury of experts and in the presence of HRH the Hereditary Grand Duke. These presentations are being live-streamed onto the virtual platform, RTL play, science.lu, and the social media channels of the Science Centre Luxembourg. To complete the live stream programme, participants will leave the stage to Luxembourgish musicians EDSUN and Pleasing for an artistic intermezzo. To round it all off, the FJSL invited André Wilmes, PhD - Jonk Fuerscher alumnus and CEO of Rafinex Sàrl - as key note speaker to address the participants and share his experience as a scientist.
“What was most important to us for this year’s edition, was to find a new expression platform for our young scientists, which will encourage them to pursue their innovative and creative ideas, even during more difficult times”, said Carlo Hansen, president of the FJSL.
The platform including the live stream will be openly accessible free of charge to the public this Saturday and Sunday, from 09:00 onwards. Visitors will be
able to virtually meet the 45 local participants and the 40 international participants from 15 different countries and explore their projects in a variety of different fields. The award ceremony will be held the following day on Monday 29 March, without an audience.
The national Jonk Fuerscher contest is a science competition for students living in Luxembourg between the ages of 11-21. The Expo-Sciences Luxembourg is an international, non competitive science fair, to which young scientists from all over the world are invited to come to the Grand-Duchy and present their projects to the Luxembourgish audience. For more information about the Fondation Jeunes Scientifiques Luxembourg (FJSL) and its events, see www.fjsl.lu and follow @fjs.lux.
2021 has been a year of novelties. The FJSL had to come up with an alternative version of the event, given the situation of a global pandemic. The main
takeaway from the 2020 edition was, that - while it is relatively feasible to translate the jury sessions and exhibit part of the activities into the virtual realm - the real challenge lies in proposing exchange activities between the national and international participants, a component which is very dear and important to the organisers.
So, in addition to creating a platform with a virtual exhibition space and organising a live streamed congress, some of the new activities include a culinary exchange, real time discussions held by alumni of the Jonk Fuerscher, themed pub quizzes, and virtual cultural activities to visit Luxembourg and the other participating countries.
The Culinary Exchange invited all participants of both the national Jonk Fuerscher contest and the Expo-Sciences Luxembourg to get in touch with each other before the actual events through their culinary preferences and taste buds. On the platform, it is possible to discover their favourite recipes and find pictures of the participants trying out their peers’ dishes from all over the world.
