The Emirates Foundation, the national organisation set up by the Abu Dhabi Government to facilitate public-private funded initiatives for the empowerment of youth across the UAE, has announced the kick-off of the 7th edition of its ‘Think Science’ national competition, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and the Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK).

To be held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Chairman of Emirates Foundation, the Think Science Competition will see participants showcasing their projects at the "Future Science Entrepreneurs platform" which was created by Emirates Foundation last year, enabling youth to connect with the Foundation partner companies for potential adoption, incubation and funding.

Based on the huge success of the Think Science competition over the last six years in rewarding promising science talent and supporting them in incubating their winning projects and in an effort to enable the largest number of participants to take part in the competition, Emirates Foundation will host the Think Science competition in each of the seven Emirates, starting in early in 2019.

Speaking about the Think Science Competition, Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Managing Director of Emirates Foundation, said, "We are proud of the success of Think Science programme which has witnessed the participation of tens of thousands of youth over the last six years and enabled hundreds the opportunity to take their projects from concept to reality.

Today, our commitment to nurture science and innovation in the nation in line with the national Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policy, adopted by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has never been stronger. I am therefore delighted to announce that we will be expanding the Think Science platform this year and taking the competition to all four corners of the UAE to unearth every Emirati male and female science talent in the country."

Commenting on the ‘Future Science Entrepreneurs’, He added, "At the Foundation, our Think Science Programme is all about building the scientists, innovators and entrepreneurs of tomorrow and connecting youth to opportunity. The private sector will help them nurture their ambitions and this will enable us, working hand in hand with the education sector as well accelerate the number of young people studying STEM and pursuing STI careers."

Designed to inspire UAE youth and engage them to develop, design and build science-based innovations that respond to society’s most pressing needs, the Think Science Competition aims to encourage, and empower youth, between the ages of 15 and 35 years, to follow their passion for science with interactive, hands-on activities in the fields of engineering, energy, aviation and other technological industries.

The competition, which is supported by the Ministry of Education and the Department of Education and Knowledge, demonstrates the Foundation’s continuous efforts to inspire and empower UAE youth to innovate in the fields of science and technology.

The Competition has engaged over 12,400 youth since its inception and reached a record number of 1,880 projects’ submissions for its 2018 edition with an increase of 36% compared to 2017 submissions.

The Competition has also graduated nearly 1,100 Think Science Ambassadors who were provided with opportunities to participate in local, regional, and international science knowledge exchange activities, that develops their knowledge and analytical thinking, and have gone on to represent the UAE and receive winning prizes at prestigious international forums such as the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair Competition in the US.

The deadline for registration and proposals’ submission for the 7th round of the competition will be by 10th October 2018, and the announcement of the accepted projects will be by November 2018, where youth can start the execution of their project. The online registration for the competition is now open for youth who can upload their proposals on www.thinkscience.ae

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