Singaporean Teen’s 5-Minute Video Wins $250,000 Scholarship From Mark Zuckerberg

Deanna See, 17, was one of two winners at the Breakthrough Junior challenge for her video titled “Superbugs! And Our Race Against Resistance” about antibiotic resistance. Her video was selected out of 6,000 entries from 146 countries. The other winner was Antonella Masini, 18, who created a video on quantum entanglement.

The Breakthrough Junior challenge is a global science video competition where students are asked to creatively explain a big idea in the field of physics, math, and life sciences. Videos can’t be longer than 5 minutes and are judged on four criteria: engagement, illumination, creativity, and difficulty.

But the students are not the only winners — a $50,000 cash prize is also given to the winner’s teachers. However, See’s biology teacher Wong Seok Hui is a civil servant and can’t accept the prize, so it will go towards her school’s scholarship program, according to Geek Wire.

See’s alma mater, Raffles Girls’ School, will also be given a new science lab valued at $100,000, according to AsiaOne.

Priscilla Chan, who co-founded the Breakthrough Prize with her husband Mark Zuckerberg wrote on their website that both winners “have bright futures in science and I am so excited to honour their work”.

“They are also incredible storytellers, whose ability to capture these complex ideas in accessible and exciting ways is truly inspiring. I cannot wait to see how they will change the world,” she added.