Eurovision has joined CERN – the world’s leading laboratory for particle physics – to award grants to two production houses to develop multiplatform media proposals to spark the scientific curiosity of kids aged eight to twelve. 

The initiative,  launched in November 2012, attracted 23 entries from 12 different countries in Europe and beyond. 

A panel of CERN scientists and EBU Community Members evaluated the proposals for their capacity to stimulate the natural curiosity of children about fundamental physics in an entertaining and creative way.

"The best children's programmes educate and inform without the viewer even being aware,” says Annika Nyberg-Frankenhaeuser, Eurovision Media director. “These science-themed series will not only entertain children, they will hopefully also inspire a new generation of scientists and inventors.”

Two projects were selected for further development:

‘Cubic, Quark & Big-G’, proposed by Baby Cow Animation & Bigfatstudio, is an animation series where robot heroes explore fundamental physics in a fun and formative way. Through cartoon slapstick and perilous gags, the characters make specific discoveries about topics, including the mystery of gravity, space-time, string theory and the Higgs boson.

‘Just for Quarks’, from production company Screen Glue, is a series of short films targeting the YouTube generation featuring three teenage pranksters who share a super power – the ability to alter fundamental laws of physics.

“Children are the most remarkable example of curiosity,” said Sergio Bertolucci, CERN Director of Research and Computing. “We should not limit this curiosity, but develop it.”

Both projects will be presented at the Eurovision Science & Knowledge pitching session – one of several Eurovision TV meetings to take place in Berlin during the week of 9th September 2013, including the well-known EUROVISON Creative Forum.

EBU Members involved in the evaluation process included ZDF, Germany, ARTE, France; RTBF, Belgium, WDR, Germany, NRK, Norway, SVT, Sweden, RAI World, Italy.

About CERN

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is the world's leading laboratory for particle physics. It has its headquarters in Geneva. At present, its member states are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Romania is a candidate for accession. Israel and Serbia are associate members in the pre-stage to membership. India, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Turkey, the European Commission and UNESCO have observer status.

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