Competition: Win a trip to centres of world science

NEXT WEEK is European Week for Scientific Culture. Celebrations of the cultural value of science as opposed simply to its technological or industrial applications are rare. This year, for the first time, there will be a pan-European celebration of this continent's scientific heritage. The festivities were prompted by an initiative from the European Commission, but they will embrace many countries outside the European Union.

The Independent, in conjunction with the British Association for the Advancement of Science, will be marking the event. To catch and retain the interest of young people and remind them of the role European scientists have played in shaping the world in which they live, we will be running a competition for people aged 14 to 18, offering prizewinners the chance to win a trip to the scientific centres of Europe and beyond.

Answer 20 questions on the history of science in Europe and you could be winging your way to the international Roque de los Muchachos astronomical observatory on La Palma in the Canary Islands, investigating the Medical Research Council's tropical disease laboratories in The Gambia, visiting 'the Big Machine' at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (Cern) in Geneva, or one of the many other research laboratories and centres of scientific culture in Europe.

You do not have to be an Einstein to enter. The competition is designed not to be a narrow technical assessment of the entrants' scientific knowledge. The questions will be about the scientists who helped build Europe's scientific heritage.

The competition will appear on the Independent's Science page on Monday 22 November. The questions will be repeated on Thursday 25 November on the Education pages, and again on the Science page on Monday 29 November. Anyone aged 14 to 18 on 30 November 1993 can enter the competition. The closing date for entries will be 20 December 1993, and all visits will take place during the first half of 1994. For further details, write to Sally Goodman, Euro Science Quiz, British Association for the Advancement of Science, Fortress House, 23 Savile Row, London W1X 1AB.