On April 24–25, the Centre for Educational Innovations of the Ivano-Frankivsk City Council organized the V International Contest “SAVE THE PLANET TOGETHER!”. The competition was won by a lyceum student of Lyceum No. 10, who worked at the Centre for Educational Innovation under the guidance of its Director, Mariia Pochynok, and a Ph.D. student of the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology Oleh Demianchuk. Veronika presented her biotechnology project “PlastiEaters. Saving the planet with the help of larvae”. The young researcher proposed to use the larvae of the black-bodied Zophobas morio to digest polystyrene. Our Ph.D. student helped to understand the complex biochemical pathways of polystyrene digestion in the larvae.
The awarding ceremony took place on 26 April. The event also recognized the contribution of the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology to the promotion and development of STEM fields among lyceum students with a diploma. The award presented to Professor Maria Bayliak, the Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology.