SPARK Innovation Awards
With a view of fostering spirit of scientific enquiry and promoting innovation among school children, KVRSS holds an annual science fair wherein the SPARK Innovation Awards are given for entries displaying harnessing of scientific concepts for solutions to every-day issues through some novel concept/method/process/device.
The contest aims to encourage innovation among school children through an inter-school competition wherein the Spark Innovation Awards would be given to the children who come up with the most original exhibits/concepts in various fields of Science.
The competition was started in 2012 for students of Andhra Pradesh and extended to include students from the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in 2015.
In 2019-20, KVRSS collaborated with CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad to identify young champions who have ideas on fighting the Climate Change in their local ecosystem, as a one-time event.
Another initiative was started in 2019-20 based only on Mathematics, KVRSS GANITAM Math Fair. Project proposals focused on innovative ideas through models or games by students to explain the various concepts of Math. The proposals were also focus the application of the concept in daily life.
With the overwhelming success of GANITAM, KVRSS extended the concept to Physics, Biology and Chemistry and in 2020-21 the competition was held in the four basic sciences and awards presented in each field separately and as follows:
Math – KVRSS SPARK GANITAM Awards
Chemistry – KVRSS SPARK RASAYANAM Awards
Biology – KVRSS SPARK JEEVANAM Awards
Physics – KVRSS SPARK BHOUTIKAM Awards
The projects should be submitted for each field separately. The competition is open to all students from all the states of India studying in the classes 7 to 12. The proposals should focus on Innovative Ideas of students and not a mere compilation of ideas or project – work downloaded from the internet.
KVRSS SPARK Innovation Awards
The competition is open to school students from classes 7 to 12 in the age group of 12 -18 years as on 31st December of the year. All students must have permission/certificate from the school or parent or legal guardian to enter the Competition. The decision regarding the students' eligibility to participate rests with KVRSS - who in turn will constitute selection committees consisting of eminent science teachers – both school and university level. The decisions of these expert committees will be final.
Note
- The projects should be submitted for each field separately.
- The final presentations will be held offline or online.
Entry requirements from participants:
- 1. Summary (A brief overview of project in English).
- 2. Significance and Uniqueness of the project
- 3. Concept (The scientific concept being used or explained).
- 4. Methodology & Experimental Design.
- 5. Results so far achieved and explanation of results.
- 6. Conclusion (Details of the outcome of the project).
- 7. Future Potential of the Project.
- 8. Bibliography, References and Acknowledgements.
- 9. Complete Project should be submitted with a 3 minute video of working model or if theoretical, should be backed up with the data.
Important Note
* The paper must be submitted with all the Topics in the given format only
* Any omission of the above topics will lead to disqualification of application.
* Graphs, Figures and Tables should be included wherever required.
* Projects that are just informational, working-models, kit building or downloads from the internet will not be considered. A project may be a part of a larger study performed by professional scientists, but the project presented by the students must be only their own portion of the complete study. Scientific fraud and misconduct are not condoned at any level of research or competition. This includes plagiarism, forgery, use or presentation of other researcher's work as one's own and fabrication of data. Fraudulent projects will fail to qualify for competition.
* The decision of the panel of judges for the awards is final and binding and no discussion will be entertained in this matter.
* Candidates who have already been selected for an award in the previous years cannot apply.
Awards:
The awards would be given in the following categories:
Section A: KVRSS SPARK Innovation Awards
Four Categories:
- i) Category - I: GANITAM (Math)
- ii) Category - II: RASAYANAM (Chemistry)
- iii) Category III: JEEVANAM (Biology)
- iv) Category-IV: BHOUTIKAM (Physics)
- Awards given in each Category will be:
- Winners Rs.10,000/- only
- Runner-up I Rs. 5,000/- only
Judging Criteria:
- 1. How inspiring is the idea?
- 2. Capacity to make impact in some way.
- 3. Interest & Creativity demonstrated by the team.
- 4. Knowledge and use of scientific concepts.
- 5. Interpretation of results.
- 6. Presentation and communication skills.
- 7. Decision of Judges is final & no communication in this regard will be entertained.
Eligibility:
- Each school may send maximum 5 projects; however, a student can be part of only one project
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A student must be:
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- In classes 7 to12 for KVRSS SPARK Innovation Awards and
- - In the age group of 12 - 18 years.
- Abstracts and additional material must be in English
- A team may have a maximum of three members and from the same School
Registration
- All students, individuals and teams, must register as per the format given.
- Each team must have a Team Leader identified.
- Complete project proposal and all additional materials must be submitted by 12th Dec 2023.
- Project proposals for each category of KVRSS SPARK Innovation awards should be submitted separately clearly mentioning in bold letters for which category the proposal is being sent.
- Registration and submission of a project does not guarantee an entry into the final Presentation.
- Projects selected for final presentation will be intimated by 20th Dec 2023.
- Final presentation of selected projects will be held online or offline.
- Team Leader will present the project before the panel of judges.
Tips to choose the right projects:
- Talk to the faculty at a nearby college, university or research institute.
- Search online, ask teachers, study science books, etc.
- Contact judges from earlier science competitions.
- Contact people who write science articles.
- Check International Science Fairs websites.