The Filippo Buonarroti Scientific High School in Pisa is the winner chosen among the eight scientific high schools competing for the Mad for Science Challenge 2020. The school has won 75 thousand euros to implement its own school biolaboratory thanks to its project on the use of the spirulina algae to improve the injera nutritional properties, a common staple food consumed in the Horn of Africa. This highly interdisciplinary project has showed how science can be used to solve a social problem, as pointed out by the Jury composed of  Francesca Pasinelli, Jury Chairwoman and General Manager of Telethon Foundation; Mario Calabresi, Italian journalist and writer; Barbara Gallavotti, Biologist, writer, scientific journalist and director for the scientific coordination of the L. da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan; Ferruccio Resta, Engineer and Academician, Dean of Milan’s Politecnico University; Andrea Salonia, Tenured Professor of Urology  at the University Vita-Salute San Raffaele in Milan and writer and Gianmario Verona, Italian economist and academician, Dean of Bocconi University.

The Leonardo da Vinci High School in Trento has won second place for its project analyzing the molecular relationships between soil microorganisms and blueberries in organic, intensive and spontaneous growth farming. The school has won a prize of 37.5 thousand euros.

The Failla Tedaldi High School in Castelbuono has won the Environment Prize amounting to 12.5 thousand euros for the best ecosystem protection projects. Its project Ecocity aims at developing models of waste-water treatment plants for the sustainable management of water in rural and urban environment and in public and private buildings.

The Enrico Fermi High School in Aversa (CE), the Italo Calvino High School in Genoa, the Filippo Lussana High School in Bergamo, and the Giovanni Battista Ferrari High School in Este have been awarded the Finalist Prize amounting to 10,000 thousand euros each in recognition of the quality of their work despite a difficult spring 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Filippo Buonarroti Scientific High School in Pisa has joined the Competition Winners’ List. The previous 3 editions had been won by the Ariosto Spallanzani High School in Reggio Emilia, the Augusto Monti State School in Asti and the Nicola Pellati Technical School (specifically the Galileo Galilei Scientific High School) in Nizza Monferrato (AT).