Previous winners
2012 winnersThe 2012 Molecular Frontiers Inquiry Prize winners were announced at the Molecular Frontiers Symposium & Forum LIVE! on May 29th 2012, at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. | Girls:Why do short naps leave you feeling more refreshed than longer naps?Nancy Le, Girl, 13, USA Why is the color blue so scarce in the natural ecosystems and what accounts for that?Martyna Petrulyte, Girl, 17, Lithuania Even though we can forget something, sometimes it pops back into our head. Is there a way to have no probability to recall a certain memory? Lee Keum Young, Girl, 16 South Korea Why are there more right-handed people than left-handed people in the world? Sin Ein Yap, Girl, 17, Malaysia
Priya Nathan, Girl, 13, India Boys:Why are our teeth made of calcium compounds which are weaker than metal or diamonds? Jeong Hyun Nam, Boy 17, South Korea How can we define the human soul? George Agavanakis, Boy 16, Greece When I’m hurt or ill, only I can feel the pain. Is it possible to make the doctor feel the same and make the correct diagnosis based on this? Gabriel Tunsater, Boy 12, Sweden Since
it is a universal law that energy can be neither created nor destroyed,
how did the energy in the universe come into existence? Kaustubh Agrawal, Boy ,17, India If everything happens because of molecular interactions, do we have free will? | |
2011 winnersThe 2011 Molecular Frontiers Inquiry Prize winners were announced at the Molecular Frontiers Symposium & Forum LIVE! on May 24th 2011, at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. | Girls:Are self-awareness and consciousness the results of various physical processes or brain states or are they disconnected from our material bodies?Elizabeth Naameh, Girl, 16, USA What elements are imagination and thoughts made of?Raeann Heng,Girl, 15, Singapore How is intelligence acquired or inherited?Donna Kwon, Girl, 15, USA Does the brain have a limit to the information it can memorize?Augustina Petrulyte, Girl, 17, Lithuania Why is it that older memories are sometimes easier to recall than more recent ones?Faazilah Mohamed, Girl, 13, USA Boys:What is the origin of self-sacrifice? (it seems to contradict the instinct of self-preservation)Sergei Khegai, Boy 15, Russia Why do most living organisms sleep?George Agoranos, Boy 17, Greece What are dreams made of and why is that than when you wake up you don’t remember what you dreamt?Žilvinas Graužys, Boy 12, Lithuania Does a thought have a specific biochemical signature?For instance, does a question-shaped thought have a specific type of molecular signature?Shivaramakrishna Srinivasan, Boy ,11, India Why is symmetry such a common and pervasive feature in Nature?Srihari Chandrasekhar, Boy 10, United Kingdom | |
2010 winners
The winners were announced by Dr Andreas Mershin, director of the Molecular Frontiers Inquiry Prize
SUBMIT a question for the 2012 Prize! |
Girls Justina Saladyte,17, Lithuania: Boys Armin Mohammadi, 15, Canada:“Does a cell control its atoms or is it the interaction of the atoms that control the cell?” Iraklis Gkritsis, 16, Greece: “Why do living organisms get old?” Jan Pulmann, 16, Slovakia: “How do we represent numbers in our mind and how do we count with them?” George Utsin, 12, Canada: “Why is it that when you pour sugar onto strawberries, they release their juice?” Edward Godfrey, 16, United Kingdom: “How does the brain know which neurotransmitters map to which sensations, if it has never seen that sensation before?” |
Winners: 2009 Molecular Frontiers Inquiry Prize winner Felicia Ullstad, 17, receives the medal from Nobel Prize winner and Molecular Frontiers member Roderick MacKinnon
2009 winners
The winners were announced by Vladimir Leopards, winner of last year's Molecular Frontiers Inquiry Prize, who was invited to participate in the Molecular Frontiers Symposium this year.
SUBMIT a question for the 2012 Prize! | Girls Chloe Lim, 15, Singapore:“Where does conscience come from?" Felicia Ullstad, 17, Sweden: “What is the origin of chemical chirality?” Katerina Donta, 16, Greece: "Some animals can reproduce an amputated part of their body, why can’t we?” Rei-En Tang, 15, Singapore: “How does our imagination work?” Tove Lagström, 17,Sweden: “What are the properties of water that make it the keystone of life?” Boys Alec Wilkens, 16, USA:“How are memories stored?” Daniel Tong, 15, Brazil: “What are the molecular differences between living and non-living things?” Fabian Fernandez-Han, 11, USA: “Why does listening to cats purr make you feel calm and relaxed??” Homan Mohammadi,17, Canada: “What makes a cell alive if it is simply a collection of inanimate atoms?” Max Wallack, 13, USA: “Why does water expand when it freezes?” |
2008 winners
See what scientists have found out about the winning questions since 2008 in Questions followup
SUBMIT a question for the 2012 Prize! | Girls
Brittany Wakefield, 15, USA: “How are shells made?" Ang Qi Yan, 16, Singapore: “What is between protons and neutrons in the nucleus?” Kelsey Kecherson, 15, USA: "How do we do things?” Ava Violich, 11, USA: “When did molecules come into being?” Katie Osborn, 14, USA: “What are emotions?” Boys Oliver Gocher, 12, UK: “If elephants have huge brains, why are they not the most intelligent?” Vladimir Leopards, 15, USA: “Why aren’t plants black?” Adam Patrick, 13, UK: “Why do tea leaves gather in the center when a cup of tea is stirred?” Adeeb Nazeerudin, 17, Switzerland: “What is the origin of our thinking – if the brain controls nearly all of our body, what makes the brain control itself?” Jacob Bildfell, 15, Canada: “What is the nature of all matter?” |