Singapore student Deanna See has just won a scholarship worth US$250,000 (S$356,000), from a foundation funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
The challenge
The competition, known as the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, required that participants explain a challenging theory or concept in mathematics, life sciences or physics, using an original video.
According to The Straits Times, Deanna, 17, a student at Raffles Institution (RI), was one of the finalists of the global challenge, that attracted more than 6,000 entries from 146 countries.
Deanna’s five-minute video titled- “Superbugs! And Our Race Against Resistance” – saw her explain the concept of antibiotic resistance in a simple and engaging manner, using props such as Lego figurines.
The prize
For her efforts, she was rewarded up to US$400,000 in education prizes, consisting of a US$250,000 scholarship, a US$50,000 prize for a teacher who inspired her, and a state-of-the-art science laboratory valued at US$100,000.
Apparently, Deanna had decided to award the US$50,000 prize to her biology teacher Wong Seok Hui. However, Mrs Wong, being a civil servant, is unable to receive the prize and would hence direct it to RI’s scholarship programme instead.
The lab prize will be given to Raffles Girls’ School, Deanna’s alma mater.
18-year-old Peruvian student, Antonella Masini, was another winner of the competition.
Breakthrough Prize Foundation
The prizes are funded by Mr Zuckerberg, his wife Priscilla Chan, and Russian physicist Yuri Milner and his wife Julia, via the Breakthrough Prize Foundation.
Dr. Chan says, “Antonella and Deanna both have bright futures in science and I am so excited to honour their work. They are also incredible storytellers, whose ability to capture these complex ideas in accessible and exciting ways is truly inspiring.I cannot wait to see how they will change the world.”
Watch Deanna’s interesting video here:
(Source: The Straits Times)
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