Battle of the Scientists 2026
On February 6, six researchers, including two from the Royal Observatory of Belgium, shared their knowledge on solar storms and space weather with a special audience during the eleventh Battle of the Scientists. 2,700 enthusiastic primary school children, 500 of whom were in the auditorium and 2,200 via livestream, voted for the most insightful presentation. The Belgian Space Weather Centre (STCE) and The floor is yours joined forces to organise this edition.
The Battle of the Scientists is a competition in which scientists present their research so clearly that even children can understand it. Even more, the children have the final say. They present, keep track of time, form a children’s jury and vote for the clearest scientist. This year, this honor went to De Mozaïek primary school from Kessel-Lo.
After each presentation, the children’s jury gives critical feedback and the children from the audience can ask questions.
Speaker Cis Verbeeck from the Royal Observatory of Belgium.
The central theme was ‘space weather’. This concerns the eruptions and particle streams from the Sun, which affect the Earth and our technology. Think, for example, of solar storms (sudden bursts of energy on the Sun), solar wind (a stream of charged particles coming from the Sun), and gigantic clouds of charged particles that the Sun explosively ejects into space. In Belgium, we even have a space weather centre where scientists collect and analyse data and issue space weather reports. The STCE is located in Uccle and is known far beyond the country’s borders.
The consequences of space weather for us? Satellites failing, disrupted GPS systems and in extreme cases even damaged electricity networks on Earth.
Speaker Andreas Debrabandere from the Royal Observatory of Belgium.
Based on a short video, the pupils selected the speakers listed below (Dutch).
- Cis Verbeeck(Royal Observatory of Belgium): “Hoe voorspel je een super-zonnestorm?” (presentation)
- Esmee Tackx en Stefan De Raedemaeker(KU Leuven): “Marsrover Marcel en de wraak van de zon” (presentation)
- Dries Van Baelen(Defence): “Hoe bel je een soldaat in het midden van de woestijn?” (presentation)
- Myrthe Flossie(KU Leuven): “Help! Zonnedeeltjes vallen astronauten aan” (presentation)
- Andreas Debrabandere(Royal Observatory of Belgium): “Een eclips bouwen om ruimteweer te zien” (presentation)
In the end, Myrthe Flossie (KU Leuven) was chosen as the winner with her presentation on how we can protect astronauts from dangerous plasma particles from a solar storm. Dries Van Baelen (Defence) came in second and talked about HF radio and how to ensure that soldiers can continue to communicate safely with each other, even during a solar storm.
You can also watch the entire show on YouTube!
The Battle of the Scientists 2026 is an organisation of The Floor is Yours in collaboration with the Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence (STCE), with the support of Redwire, KU Leuven and the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO).
From left to right: Cis, Stefan, Myrthe, Andreas, Esmee and Dries.