CZ.NIC will continue to support talented students
The CZ.NIC Association, the administrator of the Czech national domain, for the ninth time in a row has become the general partner of the Students’ Professional Activities (SPA). The competition, which has been announced annually for more than 40 years by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, aims to guide gifted high school students towards an independent and creative approach to solving professional issues and to support their further development.
The CZ.NIC Association, the administrator of the Czech national domain, for the ninth time in a row has become the general partner of the Students’ Professional Activities (SPA). The competition, which has been announced annually for more than 40 years by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, aims to guide gifted high school students towards an independent and creative approach to solving professional issues and to support their further development. Applications for this year’s event are accepted starting January. Further information on current events is available on the official website of the competition.
“In addition to administering the Czech national domain, CZ.NIC has long been engaged in research, educational and awareness-raising activities. These include, for example, CZ.NIC Labs, the CZ.NIC Academy educational center or the professional conference Internet and Technology. Therefore, for us, supporting creative and educational projects is something relatable, and we are happy to help motivate high school students to actively develop their knowledge and skills by taking part in the SPA competition. From our point of view, it is very valuable that among the competition disciplines, there are also technical ones, focused on computer science, electrical engineering, electronics and telecommunications,” commented Ondřej Filip, CEO of CZ.NIC.
Students participating in the SPA competition have one year to develop a project that fits into one of the eighteen defined fields of science, humanities and engineering. The competition is intended for high school students and usually takes place in four rounds (school, district, regional and national). The contestants display their best individual or collective projects and defend them before the jury. The highlight of the competition is the nation-wide display, which takes place at the end of the school year at a chosen place in the Czech Republic. Due to the unfavorable epidemiological situation, the competition was held online last year, which will also be the case this time.
“A great benefit of the SPA competition is the fact that students can choose the topic of their project themselves, completely freely on the basis of their interest. They often cooperate with universities, departments of the Academy of Sciences or companies that offer thematic areas and consultants to students in the implementation of project. However, many projects are created in more modest conditions of school laboratories, or emerge as so-called garage works, mainly from technical fields. Students of both prestigious gymnasiums and secondary vocational schools enter the competition and everyone has a chance of success. Above all, the jury assesses the idea, originality and creativity. In individual rounds, the projects are evaluated by experts from universities, high schools and other types of schools or professional and scientific institutions. Other activities in the Czech Republic and abroad are associated with the competition. Abroad, these are mainly prestigious international research high school competitions in America, China and Europe, in which Czech participants have repeatedly gained excellent awards,” says Miroslava Fatková on behalf of the SPA competition organizers.