The 2024 Native Awards endorse all our children

Native Scientists celebrated the imagination of the children who participated throughout the 2024/25 school year in its educational programmes across Europe.

In 2024, 4,876 children took part in workshops from the Same Home Town (SHT) programme and the Same Migrant Community (SMC) programme, with 51% meeting a scientist for the first time. In each workshop, children were invited to illustrate what being a scientist means and to write what they would do if they were one. At the end of the school year, the most creative and original works are selected, and the entire Native Scientists team, along with its collaborators and selected members to be the jury, votes for their favourites.

Award for Best Drawing and Best Sentence – Same Migrant Community Programme

On Monday, 17 November, the award ceremony for Best Drawing in the 2024/25 Native Scientists workshops took place at the Jesuitinas School in Pamplona. The prize was awarded to student Salma. The ceremony was attended by Román Torre, Head of the Foreign Language Programmes Section; Filipa Soares, Coordinator of Portuguese teaching in Spain and Andorra from Camões Institute; Lara San Emeterio, Programme manager of the SMC programme; and Sofía Ferreira Teixeira, Coordinator in Spain. This initiative was supported by Camões Institute and their Coordination for Portuguese Language Teaching (CEPE) in Spain, and involved six Portuguese and Brazilian scientists. The workshops brought science closer to students through the Portuguese language and were aimed exclusively at Year 5 and Year 6 students studying Portuguese at these schools.

Mattia, aged 9, won the prize for best sentence in Cologne, Germany. The winning sentence was: “If I were a scientist, I would look for new formulas to help the world. I would search for medicines to help people. I would discover forms of life that no one knows about.” Mattia said he really enjoyed the workshop and loved extracting DNA from strawberries - something that sparked his curiosity and excitement. Speaking about the award, he said “It’s nice to have won. I’m sure there are many other children who didn’t have the opportunity to take part in the event and could also have written a beautiful sentence.” Mattia also shared that if he ever becomes a scientist, “I would like to be the creator of something, like a machine or things that fly. I would also love to be a scientist who discovers new forms of life.”

The winners receive a certificate, a reusable Native Scientists tote bag, and the book Outside, published by Planeta Tangerina.

Awards for Best Sentence and Best Drawing - Same Home Town Programme

For the SHT programme, the winner in the Best Sentence category was 10-year-old Matilde, who received her award at the Basic and Secondary School of Machico in Madeira. Her winning sentence was: “If I were a scientist, I would study human behaviour because I don’t understand why people keep throwing rubbish into the sea.” The award ceremony was attended by the scientist Sara Cerqueira, teacher Conceição Gouveia, Sara Bettencourt from Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação, Tecnologia e Inovação (ARDITI), and Matilde’s parents.

Matilde’s father highlighted her enthusiasm: “She really stepped into the shoes of a scientist and thought about how she might solve the problem of the oceans, and the inspiring sentence came naturally. Matilde has a strong interest in science and in understanding how everything works.”

Matilde especially enjoyed using a diving mask and seeing scientist Sara Cerqueira’s shark-tooth collection during the workshop. The scientist also shared her own motivation: “I volunteered at a time when I was between jobs and looking for a way to stay active, learn, and contribute. I’ve always enjoyed communicating science and working with children.” She added that these workshops “break the idea that science is distant or difficult; in the end, children realise that becoming a scientist is possible.”

The winner of the Best Drawing award was 9-year-old Alice, who received her prize at the Basic School of São Pedro in Vila do Porto, in the Azores.

The award ceremony was attended by scientist André Carreiro, teacher Cristina Baptista, Alice’s parents, Fátima Fonseca and Margarida Magalhães from Luso-American Foundation for Development (FLAD), and Marco Cunha from Caixa Geral de Depósitos. Alice thought she had only won the award in the Azores, and when she found out she had won the prize at the national level, she became even happier and prouder of her work. Alice’s mother was very pleased with the Ciência Viva Circuit and said: “We never visit any of these science museums, I would also love to visit them. As a Christmas present, we can plan a trip to Lisbon and go, as a family, visit Pavilhão do Conhecimento". Alice’s mother described the experience as very positive, as her daughter met a scientist for the first time - something that may inspire her future. “We are very proud,” she added.

The winners receive a certificate, a reusable Native Scientists tote bag, a Ciência Viva Circuit, and the book Outside, published by Planeta Tangerina.

Native Scientists thanks Ciência Viva for their partnership and for sponsoring two Circuitos Ciência VIva Circuits for the SHT awards. And would also like to thank all the other sponsors who made it possible for these workshops to take place - Governo dos Açores, BPI Fundação “la Caixa”,  FLAD, Haddad Foundation, Youth for Outermost regions, Society for Experimental Biology, and Camões Institute - and for bringing science closer to the children.

About Native Scientists

Native Scientists is a pan-European non-profit organisation connecting underserved children and scientists. It exists to broaden children's horizons, promoting scientific literacy and reducing inequalities through science outreach educational programmes.