Minister of Research and Higher Education Tora Aasland with winner of  Holberg Prize School Project 2011 Alisa Mujanic Holberg Prize 2011 laureate Jürgen Kocka. Photo: Marit Hommedal/Scanpix/Holbergprisen

Date: Wedensday June 6
Time: 10.30-11.30
Location: Bergen Katedralskole, Kong Oscars gate 36, 5012 Bergen

Information about the finalists in 2011:
(It is not decided who wins 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize yet! So this is in alphabetical order.)

Lundeneset Upper secondary school, Mysen Upper secondary school and Vadsø Upper secondary school are this year's finalists.

More information about the finalists in 2011

These students from Lundeneset videregående skole are among the participants in the Holberg Prize School Project 2010. Photo: Dagfinn Våge

Research contact Øystein Sæbø from the  University of Agder visits Vennesla Upper Secondary School as part of The Holberg Prize School Project 2009. Photo: Vennesla videregående skole

An important part of the objective of the Holberg Prize is to stimulate young people to take an interest in the arts and humanities, social sciences, law and theology.

Every year students at upper secondary schools in Norway are invited to carry out a research project in cooperation with established researchers. Three of these student projects are awarded prizes of NO K 15 000, 10 000 and 5 000, respectively. The prizewinning students are also invited to attend the Holberg Prize award ceremony. A teacher's grant is also awarded in connection with the Holberg Prize School Project.

12 schools participate in 2009, from Vadsø upper secondary school in the north of Norway, to Vennesla upper secondary school in the south. The projects span a wide range of topics: "The use of Facebook and Twitter in the political election 2009", "Culture, Language and Identity", "An investigation of the terms Respect and Honour - in a Social and Cultural perspective

Holberg Prize School Project's previous first prizes:

2009 / Adaptation - From book to movie and back again / Fana Gymnas
Are books more read when adapted into a movie? In this project they found no such effect.

2008/ Wikipedia/ Langhaugen videregående skole
How do pupils in upper secondary school use Wikipedia. Are they critical in their use of this website, or is it a "copy/paste-culture" among the pupils? Are there any differece between girl and boys in this matter?

2007 / Happiness / Stavanger Katedralskole
Norway is one of the richest countries in the world, but are Norwegian teenagers happier than teenagers from poorer places? The Project studied Palestinian and Norwegian teenager’s view of their own happiness.
2006 / School lunches / Bergen Handelsgymnasium
Is there a difference between what girls and boys eat at their school lunches. And what about the difference between the pupils at schools with or without a cafeteria?

2005 / Local dialects / Vennesla videregående skole
The local dialect in the schools area is largely unaffected by the dialect of a larger city nearby, this project tried to find out why.

2004 / The Olympics / Oslo Katedralskole
Are the Olympics a friendly game between nations, or an arena for political conflict?

Prize for the best educational programme

In addition, the Holberg Prize School Project also awards a price of NOK 15,000 to the teachers who presents the best educational program initiated as part of the Holberg Prize Schools Project. The aim is to encourage teachers participating in the project to share their experiences with others.

Foto: Holbergprisen/Siv B. Systad

By Emilios Christodoulidis
Professor of Legal Theory, University of Glasgow