Students` Professional Activities (SPA).

Students` Professional Activities (SPA) is a traditional national contest for all kinds of high school students established in the former Czechoslovakia. Following and further expanding its predecessors such as Vocational technology conference and Nature Semper Viva contest, the SPA has been established in 1978. Since 1990, the SPA is in the Czech Republic founded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and annually organized and guaranteed by the National pedagogical institute of the Czech Republic. The contest is managed by a central commission while the panel of judging experts is supervised by a supreme jury.

Since the early beginning, the SPA features scientific forum enabling young students to meet, discuss and compete. It especially focuses on talented students and their scientific projects currently falling within one of the eighteen branches across physical, formal, life, applied and social sciences as well as engineering. Hence, the SPA is prestigious and highly multidisciplinary contest which is primarily intended to encourage students to pursue a scientific and independent research in a selected field of study. The students/competitors are free to choose own topic, work on it either alone or build a team, carry out the desired research at native high school, university, academy or industry and consult the problems, solutions and results with teachers, academicians, experts and others. The contest consists of school, district and regional rounds to which students submit their essay and subsequently defend their scientific outcomes in front of a jury. The candidates successfully passing these primary rounds will finally compete in a national round held every year in a selected town of the Czech Republic. The national round, held in early June, is generally attended by about three hundred attendees and their results and outcomes are judged by eighteen juries comprising of ninety teachers, academicians, researches and experts across the aforementioned branches. The juries pay particular attention to the invention, novelty, scientific level and own contribution of each work and competitor.

The SPA is not just knowledge contest, it also helps the students to develop their written and presentation skills and may become a fantastic starting point to further career. A successful participation in the SPA is significantly considered by universities and research companies recruiting new students and colleagues. Moreover, SPA winners may apply for various consequent prices awarded within the Czech Republic and are allowed and supported to represent the Czech Republic on international contests such as  ISEF, EUCYS, BYSCC etc. And many of them were successful there…

Student’s Professional Activity is really worth a try. Don’t miss it!