Prince Hassan honours winners of Hassan Bin Talal Award for Scientific Excellence

AMMAN — HRH Prince Hassan, chairman of the Higher Council for Science and Technology (HCST), on Thursday honoured the winners of Hassan bin Talal Award for Scientific Excellence for 2023 and 2024, in the presence of HRH Princess Sarvath Hassan.

The 2023 award was designated for public education institutions, excluding vocational education, while the 2024 award was allocated to higher education institutions, excluding technical education, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

In a speech, Prince Hassan stressed the importance of relying on excellence and innovation in the fields of education, training, health, and agriculture, highlighting the need for supporting Jordanian youth by enhancing competitiveness through competencies, which start with the mind and conscience.

The prince noted that relying on an integrated development plan and building on solid foundations is crucial to exploiting diverse investment opportunities in Jordan.

Prince Hassan reiterated the call to establish a base and centre for scientific data based on reliable information, pointing out that achieving stability and development comes through reordering priorities and eliminating competition over information.

For his part, Secretary-General of the HCST Mashhour Rifai said that the award is a success story in the Kingdom and aims to encourage educational, scientific, and technological activities in institutions concerned with education and training.

Rifai noted that 13 universities submitted 32 projects for the 2024 award, out of which three projects from three universities won. Last year, 78 projects from 73 institutions were submitted, and six schools won the award.

The first award for 2024 was granted to the Hashemite University for its project “National Seed Bank”, the second award to Hussein Technical University for its project “Skills Improvement Programme”, and the third award to Jordan University of Science and Technology for its project “Royal Initiative to Support Creative Projects in Nanotechnology”.

In 2023, Zubairiya Elementary School for Boys in Ma’an won the first prize for its project "Our Green Environment: Cultivating Greenhouses", and Ridwan Schools shared the first prize for their project "Robots: Sustainable Projects and Community Service”.

The second prize was awarded jointly to Mughira Bin Shuba Secondary School for Boys in Zarqa for their project STEM Lab and Raed Arabi School for their project “Reducing the Impact of Treated Water on the Drip Irrigation System”.

The third prize was jointly awarded to Joufeh Comprehensive Secondary School for Girls in Balqa for their project “Submerged Basins” and Durr Manthur School for their project “Own the Keys to the Future”.