The 2013 "Solve for Tomorrow" National Youth Innovation and Experiment Contest, a national science application contest for high school and college students, was launched in Beijing on Tuesday.

Initiated by the China Association for Science and Technology and the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, the contest is organized by the China Science and Technology Museum and Samsung Electronics.

At the launch, top scientists, including academics at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, spoke highly of the competition, which encourages participants to innovatively apply the knowledge they've acquired to solve problems, and exposes them to the beauty of science.

"We hope to engage as many students into the competition, and inspire them not only to learn about science, but also to try to use the knowledge and strive to be more proactively," says Na Xiang, deputy director with CAST's popular science department.

Experts from the association, the museum and Samsung Electronics have prepared three groups of questions on data transferring, wind power generation and mechanics stability.

At the preliminary stage, from late September to early November, students will be asked to design models to solve a problem they choose, and submit the design and explanation, either in the form of photos or videos, onto official websites of the competition.

Experts will then choose the best among the candidates for the next round, which will be held in several provincial museums of science and technology from early November to early December.

In the second round, contestants will be asked to assemble problem-solving models onsite and answer questions from judges.

The final contest and award ceremony will be held in Beijing in December. Students will face tougher problems and questioning, and the winners will get a chance to visit top universities abroad, according to Na.

Zhao Xinyi, a sophomore with the School of Software at Tsinghua University, says she has known about the stories of scientists and wanted to be a scientist since she was young.

When she heard about the competition from a friend, she decided to try immediately, and now five fellow students have joined her.

Chen Zhaoyuan, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, says he is glad there is such a competition and believes it will introduce students to the wonderful world of science application and innovative thinking.

Zheng Haojun, deputy director-general with the China Science and Technology Museum, estimates at least 800 teams and 15,000 students will participate in the competition.

liuzhihua@chinadaily.com.cn