PPG Completes Universiada STEM Education Initiative in Wrocław, Poland

PPG has completed Universiada, a science, technology, education and math (STEM) education initiative for young scientists in Wrocław, Poland, carried out in collaboration with the University of Wrocław and the Omniveda Foundation.

Funded with a $35,000 (140,000 zloty) grant from PPG, Universiada is a competition designed to inspire young people’s interest in science by having them carry out experiments to answer their questions about science. Thirteen teams representing 10 schools from the Lower Silesia region took part in the inaugural event at the University of Wrocław. University and PPG representatives judged the teams’ results using criteria that included creativity and scientific conclusions.

First prize was awarded to a team from AMS Primary School in Wrocław, which devised an experiment to answer the question: Can “spherized” foods – those encapsulated in an edible sphere – survive a journey into space?

“The judges were impressed with both the originality of the topic and enthusiasm of the students, who prepared the work themselves with only limited help from their teacher,” said Anna Pietranik, director, Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Wrocław. “With our partners, we created this event for young scientists to develop their creative thinking and planning skills while working in teams, which helps children learn through cooperation and social contact. We also encouraged them to use the scientific method of questioning, researching, hypothesizing, testing and analyzing.”

PPG aims to build the next generation of STEM leaders to help society meet collective challenges quickly, creatively and effectively. The company supports students at various points along their educational continuum and is helping increase the number of young people with an interest in STEM, especially diverse students entering advanced STEM studies.

“Students often have innovative ideas that, in many cases, can have a real impact on a given industry,” said Marcin Dębowski, PPG lead, Global Business Services, Poland. “We want to reward young people for their creativity and future-oriented concepts, and Universiada is an excellent way of doing that. We would like young, talented people to perceive science as an attractive field of study and a future career.”