The State Agency on Intellectual Property of the Republic of Moldova (AGEPI) participated from February 13 to 15, this year, as a partner, in the 14th edition of the National Science and Engineering Contest “Mold SEF” (Moldova Science and Engineering Fair), reaffirming its commitment to supporting young researchers and promoting the culture of intellectual property in the educational environment.

The competition was organized by the Ministry of Education and Research and the National Agency for Curriculum and Evaluation in partnership with the Association of ICT Companies, the State Agency on Intellectual Property, with the support of the State University of Moldova, the Film and Media Industries Production Center MEDIACOR and the Republican Center for Children and Youth ARTICO.

The opening ceremony was attended by the Deputy Director General of AGEPI, Natalia Mogol, who stressed the importance of protecting research results from the early stages of project development, highlighting the fact that intellectual property is an essential tool for transforming innovative ideas into competitive products and solutions on the market. She also participated in the award ceremony, where she congratulated the winners and encouraged them to exploit the commercial potential of their creations by using legal protection mechanisms.

At the same time, Andrei Moisei, principal consultant within the Communication and Training Section of AGEPI, held an information seminar in the field of intellectual property, addressed to teachers participating in the Contest. The seminar had an applicative nature and aimed at the procedures for protecting inventions, trademarks and industrial designs, as well as the integration of education in the field of intellectual property into the training process.

The contest was open to gymnasium and lyceum pupils, who had the opportunity to present their projects in various fields, such as natural sciences, applied sciences and information technology. Thematic categories included chemistry, biology, mechanical engineering, artificial intelligence and other current fields, providing pupils with a platform to affirm their creativity and innovative spirit.

In this year’s edition participated 86 projects, carried out by 143 pupils from across the country, under the guidance of 62 coordinating teachers. Of the total number of projects entered, 36 were presented in the Science and Mathematics category, 35 in the Applied Sciences category, and 15 in the Information Technology category.

The projects were evaluated based on criteria such as practical applicability, creativity, scientific approach, complexity of the study, topicality of the topic and clarity of presentation. Following the judging, 31 projects were designated winners at the national stage, and two of them were selected to represent the Republic of Moldova at the international stage of the competition.

The winners of the national stage come from educational institutions in the municipalities and districts: Bălți, Cahul, Chișinău, Ialoveni, Orhei, Anenii Noi and UTA Gagauzia.

The projects selected for participation in the international stage are: “Argon-Ion Plasma Defect Engineering of GaN Memristors for Multilevel Conductance and Neuromorphic Synaptic Plasticity”, developed by Ruxanda Silosiev, a pupil at the Theoretical Lyceum “Spiru Haret” in Chișinău, and “Multi-Objective Optimisation Modelling of Biodegradable Chitosan/pEGDA Hydrogels for Contact Lens Applications”, developed by Gabriel Diug, a pupil at the Republican Theoretical Lyceum “Aristotel” in Chișinău.

Through constant involvement in the Contest Mold SEF, AGEPI contributes to strengthening the national innovation ecosystem and to forming a generation aware of the importance of intellectual property protection and to developing an economy based on knowledge, creativity and competitiveness.