FLAD and Ciência Viva launch the fifth edition of the award contest ATLÂNTICO JÚNIOR – a science prize for high school students, which will reward the winning team with a trip to the United States. The initiative aims to promote a taste for science and technology, and interest in the Atlantic, among young people.

Applications are open for the Atlantic Junior Award, an initiative of FLAD and Ciência Viva – National Agency for Scientific and Technological Culture. This award aims to promote scientific and technological culture through the appreciation of the Atlantic as a natural system and its role in the sustainability of the planet and society.

The competition will reward practical applications that facilitate the monitoring of the Atlantic and its ecosystems or that promote the sustainable use of its resources, consisting of the realization of a prototype, instrumented model or biotechnological product.

Prize:

The 3 best projects will be awarded the following prizes:

  • 1st place: winning team trip to the USA, plus a cash prize of €2,000
  • 2nd place: cash value of 2 000 €
  • 3rd place: cash value of 1 500 €

The monetary values involved in the prizes are attributed to schools in the form of equipment and materials necessary for the development of new projects in the technological area in the following school years, namely in the competition for the Atlantic Junior Award.

Edition 2025/2026

Not exceeding the value of €1000, the works submitted must focus on one of the following topics:

  • Marine renewable energies (Example: devices to harness wave and tidal energies);
  • Marine robots with sensors to measure variables such as salinity, temperature or pH;
  • Innovative vessels (Example: remote-controlled solar vehicles);
  • Technologies and processes that contribute to eliminating or mitigating marine pollution;
  • Biotechnology (Examples: pharmaceuticals, novel foods);
  • Innovative ecologies and approaches for the preservation and conservation of marine biodiversity and conservation and regeneration of marine ecosystems.

All projects submitted in previous editions require an innovative addition to the work previously developed.

Recipients

The competition is aimed at all secondary schools and vocational education, public or private, in mainland Portugal and in the Autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores.

Each team, with a maximum of five students, must be gender diverse and will be supported by a teacher/tutor. Each tutor can support a maximum of 3 teams in the competition.

Teams should seek partnerships with universities, polytechnic institutes and/or companies for technical and scientific support.

The winning team of the previous edition is unable to apply again.

Application

The application will be made electronically until December 30, through the address www.cienciaviva.pt/concurso/flad-premio-atlantico with the delivery of the following elements:

Jury

The evaluation will be made by a jury of researchers and secondary school teachers with experience in the relevant areas.

  • João Tasso de Figueiredo Borges Sousa, LSTS, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto
  • Maria Manuel Gil, MARE and Colab +Atlantic
  • César Marques, Secondary and vocational school teacher
  • Elsa Henriques, Técnico Lisboa, University of Lisbon
  • Ana Noronha, Ciência Viva – National Agency for Scientific and Technological Culture
  • Eduardo Pinto, New University of Lisbon
  • Michael Baum, Luso-American Development Foundation

Evaluation criteria:

In the documentary phase, the teams will be evaluated by the jury, taking into account the scientific value, technical execution, educational value, teamwork and dissemination to the community, with the following considerations:

  • Scientific value and creativity: 30%
  • Technical execution: 30%
  • Educational value: 15%
  • Teamwork: 15%
  • Community outreach: 10%

Final phase of the competition

The final phase of the Competition will take place in a public event on June 6, 2026, at the Pavilion of Knowledge – Centro Ciência Viva.

We advise you to read the notice of this contest (Notice – Atlantic Junior Award), where you can find all the details about the prize.

To present the projects, the selected teams must prepare:

  • Presentation video (maximum 3 minutes);
  • Technical presentation document (maximum 2 A4 pages).

The final evaluation leading to the Prize is the sole responsibility of the jury already nominated and the promoters of the competition, based on the above criteria.

The awards ceremony will take place on July 2, 2026 at FLAD.

In the last edition, Colégio Valsassina was the big winner. In 2nd place was the team from Escola Secundária da Maia. The 3rd place, ex aequo, was awarded to Escola B+S Bispo D. Manuel Ferreira and the Alcanena School Group.