Winners of the 2025 IUCr Crystal Growing Competition

We are delighted to announce the winners of the 2025 IUCr Crystal Growing Competition.

Schoolchildren were invited to convey their experiences of growing crystals through a video. The entries were judged on their creativity, aesthetic value, description of the working plan and experimental work, clarity of explanation, scientific background and safety by an international panel.

2025 saw another outstanding set of entries from across the world, and we would like to thank the students and teachers who invested months of hard work and dedication in growing their crystals. There was an unprecedented level of creativity in the year’s submissions, with some students creating songs and scripts, combining science with the humanities to convey important messages such as glacial conservation and the effects of light pollution.

The winners, who receive a certificate and medal, are as follows:

Category: 15–18

GOLD: Crystallis Lab, Colegio de Jesús, Salta (Argentina)

SILVER: Three Lemons, Edward Dembowski I Bilingual High School, Gliwice (Poland)

BRONZE: A Fuego Lento, Colegio 17 de 7, Buenos Aires (Argentina)

Category: 11–15

GOLD: Pavle Semren & Leon Potočnik Vinković, Hugo Kon Elementary School, Zagreb (Croatia)

SILVER: Michal Zadrozny, Pro Futuro (Poland)

BRONZE: Stan&Storm, Óscar Romero College, Dendermonde (Belgium)

Many thanks to all those who took part. Once again, the quality of the entries was extremely high, making the decisions difficult for the judges. We are looking forward to receiving more sparkling videos in the 2026 competition!