On 23 June, the national competition to choose the mascot of the Decade of Science and Technology (DST) was officially launched. Any resident of the country can participate. Until 31 July participants have to upload their variant of the mascot and a short story about it to the contest page талисман.наука.рф, the organisers report.
The mascot may be an example of Russian flora or fauna, a natural phenomenon, any animated object or imaginary creature. It is prohibited to use state symbols, trademarks, as well as elements that contradict the public interest and the principles of humanity and morality in the mascot. Competition works may be completed in all techniques and genres. Works depicting characters created by other authors earlier will not be accepted for participation.
There will be several stages in selecting the works. From 1 to 31 August, student volunteers will check the mascots for compliance with the competition rules, and an expert council of art and media professionals, renowned actors and scientists will make a final assessment which will result in a shortlist of 40 works.
From 6 to 15 September, the selected mascots will be available for online public voting on the competition page талисман.наука.рф. The five best works will be presented to the members of the coordination committee of the Decade of Science and Technology to vote for the winning mascot.
"Today, Russia is among the top ten countries in the world in terms of research and development. The results of sociological surveys show that the prestige of the scientific profession in our country is steadily growing. 64% of parents would like to see their children involved in research, and more and more children are becoming interested in science from the school time. This is the result of the Decade's activities indicated by the Russian President. To make science even more accessible and engaging for our citizens, we have to pay greater attention to its popularisation. Anyone can propose his or her own variant of a mascot. I am sure that it will become a vivid symbol of the national science school and the achievements of our scientists," says Dmitry Chernyshenko, Vice Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Co-Chairman of the Coordinating Committee of the Decade of Science and Technology.
The presentation of the winning mascot will take place as a part of the 3rd Young Scientists Congress at «Sirius». The finalists of the competition will be awarded diplomas and souvenirs, the winner will be able to attend the Congress of Young Scientists and his or her work will become the official mascot of the Decade of Science and Technology in Russia.
All the details about the competition are available on the page талисман.наука.рф and on the official website of the Decade of Science and Technology наука.рф.
The competition is organised by the autonomous non-profit organisation «National Priorities», the operator of the Decade of Science and Technology.