Sergey Tokarev: A student from Kyiv wins $35,900 for education in the essay contest SHE is SCIENCE

In June, a charity event of the project SHE is SCIENCE took place in Kyiv. The event included awarding 12 finalists of the all-Ukrainian essay competition about female scientists and a charity auction that allowed to collect funds that were added to an educational grant for a Grand Prix winner.

Anastasia Suvorova from Kyiv became the absolute winner. For winning first place, the girl received $4,000 provided by the organizers of the competition and an additional $31,900 raised during the charity auction. These funds will cover any educational course chosen by Anastasia.

“The organizers of the project raised $43,600 during the auction and divided the money for education between the Grand Prix winner and several finalists. In their essays, the winners expressed their opinions about one of the twelve Ukrainian female scientists and their influence on the development of local and world science. The Grand Prix winner chose ornithologist Natalia Atamas for her essay,” said Sergey Tokarev, an IT businessman and GenIT founder.

The girl has already an idea of what kind of education to spend the grant on.

“It is going to be either film directing or a master’s degree in cultural studies in a European country because I can no longer imagine my life without culturology in it. Studying abroad is an extremely important and interesting experience to become a specialist in this field in the future,” the winner added.

The lots of the charity auction were portraits of 12 scientists—heroines of the project—created by talented illustrators and signed by the authors, as well as sponsorship lots, such as jewelry, a dress, a brunch with famous Ukrainian restaurateurs, and a helicopter flight over Chernobyl.

The other 11 winners also got prizes.

“As a gift, the girls have got an opportunity to undergo a training in a well-known Ukrainian outlet under the guidance of a professional editor and other valuable prizes presented to them by representatives of foreign diplomatic missions in Ukraine, Ukrainian officials, and businessmen,” Tokarev said.

SHE is SCIENCE is an educational art project aimed at raising awareness of science among young people and promoting gender equality in science. Therefore, five modern illustrators created portraits of 12 prominent Ukrainian female scientists and girls from all over Ukraine aged 14 to 21 wrote in their essays about the contribution of these specialists to the development of science and society.