Bengaluru teen wins global science video contest worth Rs 2.9 crore

Bengaluru, Nov 15: He is only 16 but Samay Godika from India's IT capital Bengaluru has already become a sensation by winning Breakthrough Junior Challenge worth Rs 2.9 crore for a video he made on circadian rhythm which is the body clock that runs in the background of our brains and cycles causes physical, mental and behavioural changes that follow a daily routine, Inuth reported.

The teenager's video focused on a 24-hour biological process that can affect simply daily activities like waking up for school or facing a jet lag. The boy became attracted towards the correlation between circadian rhythms and effectiveness of medical treatments after seeing one of his family members suffering from Parkinson's and other neurological ailments.

Samay was also in the prize fray in 2017 and was the only Indian semifinalist with a video of a self-cleaning mechanism which could help fight diseases like cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, the report added.

Students from all over the globe submitted their videos with the global competition which saw over 12,000 people registering. Breakthrough Junior Challenge is a global science video competition aimed to inspire creative thinking about fundamental concepts. Students aged between 13 to18 from countries across the world are invited to submit original videos on a concept in the life sciences, physics and mathematics.

Godika will receive $400,000 in prizes for himself, his teacher and school, the report added.