Vilamoura International School (CIV) has been ranked seventh best in the world for scientific investigation and the third best in Europe.
In the Top Secondary School Teams report, published this month and which includes schools from across the world, CIV has the highest ranking for an Algarve school.
Students have been participating in international projects developed by the University of Oxford in the UK and the University of Washington in the US to determine climate change and the cure of cancer.
In one project promoted by Oxford University, CIV students have been developing a variety of highly complex climatologic models that can, amid others, determine global warming and the rise in temperature of the earth’s surface until 2050.
A spokesman from CIV said: “This is a team effort that opens the door to the world of Science and its forms of practising Science.”
In the report, first place was awarded to Oberon High School in Australia, with the secondary school of the University of Kansas in the USA in second place and Shebbear College in the UK in third.
Super computer
Meanwhile, CIV is also participating in another investigation project conducted by the University of Washington to determine and dock the structures of proteins which could lead to the discovery of a cure for cancer and Alzheimer’s.
Students are also developing a project to build a super computer by recycling deactivated computers no longer in use. This investigation group will be using Linux as the operative system, with students learning how to develop a computing network which will benefit the team’s research.
“The students are aware of the difficulties of competing at this level, but they are determined to get to the top,” said the spokesman.
For more information about CIV, please visit the website, available in English, at www.civ.com.pt
