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To help teachers make science lessons more fun and interesting, Xperimania, now in its second year, will concentrate on the properties of familiar objects and how chemistry contributes to them. Xperimania is for 10-20 year old students in secondary schools from across Europe, and aims to boost their interest in science, which is a priority for Europe to remain a knowledge-based economy fostering innovation.

The winning students of the first Xperimania – from molecules to materials –competitions were awarded prizes at the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels on 16 September 2008. The 10 winners and runners-up coming from Bulgaria, Malta, Hungary, Poland and Cyprus were accompanied by over 60 high-level guests representing the European Institutions, the European Chemical Industry, staff from Cefic and European Schoolnet, and also fellow students and teachers from across Europe.

The second year of Xperimania, a campaign to raise young people’s interest in chemistry, will be launched early October 2008 following the prize ceremony for the school year 2007-2008. This year’s competition activity will concentrate on the properties of materials: Why are some products resistant to shocks, stains or flames? Students are asked to focus on every day objects and their specific properties.

Faced with the lack of scientifically-educated young people, the major petrochemical producers in Europe entrusted Appe with the development of an educational programme geared at raising awareness of the benefits of petrochemistry and motivating young people for scientific education. This was the starting point of “Xperimania – From Molecules to Materials”, which was launched in the 27 EU members-states in September 2007. The dedicated website www.xperimania.net was available in 22 languages.