Innovation and a Greener Future: How Sci High Fest 2026 Unfolded!
This year’s Sci High Fest brought together the most creative young minds in a large-scale science expo. Students inspired us with projects on ecology, technology, and the urban environment, while the live test of our new evaluation platform helped deliver transparent, professional reporting of the results.
An expert jury with a tough job
A five-member jury drawn from industry and academia had the difficult task of picking the best projects at the expo:
- Dr. Stoil Ivanov (Faculty of Physics and Faculty of Biology, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”)
- Polina Shumanova (Hewlett Packard Enterprise)
- Nasko Stamenov (Teacher and science communicator)
- Mihaela Kocharkova (IBM)
- Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dimitrina Georgieva (Head of the Genetics Department, Faculty of Biology, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”)
The festival’s big winners
🏆 Grand Prize: “Azoto-Knezha” (Stefan Tsanov Agricultural Vocational School – Knezha). The students isolated a local bacterium (Azotobacter chroococcum), cultured it in a school-built bioreactor, and applied it as a living biostimulant. Their trials on staple crops showed a stunning result – up to +100% root length!
🌱 Special Prize (grades 5–7): “Hydroponics in homes and the urban environment” (Hristo Smirnenski Primary School – village of Stroevo). The students explored hydroponics as a response to shrinking arable land and expensive vegetables. After visiting the aquaponics centre at Trakia University, they built their own working hydroponic tower with strawberries and tomatoes!
⭐ Audience Favourite: “VIVORA” (Kozloduy). The project reimagines building renovation with a concept built from 4 integrated layers (a Voronoi façade, a green wall, photovoltaics, and a water-harvesting system) that turn apartment blocks into breathing systems through modular deployment – without relocating residents.
🛠️ Best Engineering-Design Stand: “Air IMPROVERS” (Sofia). The team proposed an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) mounted on the roofs of city buses, turning public transport into mobile filtration stations. Their target: capturing fine particles at up to 99% efficiency on just 5 W of power!
The teams that inspired us at the expo
Smart technology and the urban environment: Alongside award-winners Air IMPROVERS, Recycle Connect (Sofia) and the playful SmartPot – Tamagotchi (Sofia) added their own sparkle.
Architecture and ecology: Architecture of the Living (Sofia), Clean Rivers (Kozloduy), and NO FILTER (Knezha).
Agriculture of the future: Alongside our young award-winning discoverers from Stroevo, three more wonderful local projects took the stage: Hydroponics, The Children of Stroevo, and Friendship.
Art with a cause: The moving film project THE GENIUS (Zlatitsa).
What’s next?
Over the coming months we’ll tell each team’s story – and their innovative ideas – in detail across our channels. Stay tuned!
Our heartfelt thanks to the Faculty of Biology at Sofia University for the wonderful hosting! Thank you to our jury for the experience shared, to all our supporters, partners, and guests for the invaluable backing, and most of all to the participants – you are extraordinary and inspiring!
💡 Get involved! If you’d like your school to start a club and join the next edition of the festival – write to us!
See you again in the world of science! 🚀