Making science accessible: How Yuri Milner’s Junior Challenge is transforming science communication

A sixteen-year-old in California transforms cancer-fighting antibody drug conjugates into a superhero narrative. A teenager in India explains a breakthrough cancer treatment to an audience of thousands. A student in New Zealand tackles the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics with clarity that eludes many graduate textbooks.

These aren’t anomalies. They’re participants in the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, a global competition that has become one of the most effective science communication initiatives in the world.