Science Rally : Science Rally at Modern University for Business and Sciences

 

For the fourth year in a row, MUBS organized its science competition aiming to reward critical thinking and curiosity among Lebanese youth in an annual celebration that brings together high school students from around Lebanon and tests their knowledge through questions posed by leading scientists from Lebanon and USA.

The MUBS Science Rally, as the competition is known, is an embodiment of Carl Sagan’s statement that “science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge”. It aims to encourage and reward young minds to question phenomena using a scientific approach, and finding scientific explanations to observations in their everyday life.

The event was under the patronage of the Minister of Education, H.E. Mr. Marwan Hamadeh, and organized by the School of Health Sciences and the Research Office at MUBS. Talented students from 18 prominent Lebanese high schools came together on Friday February 24th 2017 to test their scientific knowledge in the Auditorium of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education at the UNESCO Palace.

The competition consisted of 12 rounds, judged by a jury of prominent Lebanese scientists and professors:

- Dr. Zakia Dimassi, Pediatrician and Research Associate (Faculty of Medicine, AUB)

- Dr. Zeina Soayfane, Associate Professor (Biological Sciences Department, LU)

- Dr. Areej Merhi, Lecturer (Chemistry Department, LAU)

- Dr. Omar Deeb, Assistant Professor (Physics Department, BAU)

- Ms. Reem Fakih, Executive Director (Dietetics Department, Sahel General Hospital)

The event was attended by an audience headed by Professor Ahmad Jammal, General Director of Higher Education, Dr. Hatem Alamy, Chairman of the Board of Trustees at MUBS, and members of the MUBS Board of Trustees, faculty and staff, in addition to contestants’ friends, families, teachers, and school principals who provided great support for the teams, in an environment of friendly and lively competition.

Questions were also asked via video connection by world-renowned researchers from USA, including St Jude Children’s Hospital, Stanford University, Berkeley University, San Jose State University, showing support and encouragement for this unique effort to advance scientific thinking in our country.

 

This year’s winning schools were:

1st Place: Ecoles des Filles de la Charite-Saint Vincent de Paul; winning 5 flight tickets to Egypt

2nd Place: Aley Cultural Secondary School; winning a cash prize of $800

3rd Place: Hariri High School; winning a cash price of $600

4th Place: Maroun Abboud Official Secondary School, Obadieh; winning MUBS Scholarships for Curious Minds (30% financial assistance).

Fair Play & Scientifically Spirited Team: Universal College Aley; winning scuba diving vouchers from Dive the Med Club and books from Turning Point.