Seventeen-year-old Nikola Veselinov won the Regeneron Young Scientist Award

Seventeen-year-old Nikola Veselinov, an 11th-grade student at the Paisii Hilendarski High School of Mathematics in Sofia, achieved a historic success for Bulgaria by winning the Regeneron ISEF Young Scientist Award — the top distinction at the world’s largest and most prestigious international science and engineering competition for high school students. This year’s edition took place in Phoenix, Arizona, the Ministry of Education and Science said.

Nikola won first place in the Mathematics category with his project, “Solvability of Equations in Elementary Functions”, and also received the overall grand prize for young scientists. The award comes with a cash prize of $75,000.

The youngest member of the Bulgarian team, Nikola also received two additional special awards. The American Honor Society for Scholars and Students (ΜΑΘ) presented him with a prize and $1,500, while the American Mathematical Society — one of the world’s most respected professional organisations in the field — awarded him another prize and $1,000. His research advisor is Miroslav Marinov.

Two other students represented Bulgaria at the competition: Stefan Kuyumdzhiev and Bozhidara Puhaleva.

Editor: Miglena Ivanova