WP6b: science-centred competitions to improve student motivation in science WP6b (USB) will produce two training modules on science-centred competitions as a way to improve and understand student motivation in science (products 6.3; 6.4). Description 6.3; 6.4: 1) Brief background Science centred competitions have a long tradition in the Europe. For example in the Czech Republic these activities started 43 years ago (Farkac & Bozkova 2006). USB is actively involved (working on the concept, preparation of tasks and organisation of the competition) from the 1970s. This expertise as well as long term research on pupil motivation carried out by USB staff initiated the question of how to use such competitions for empowerment of the students' motivation to study science. Recent advances in motivational research (Elliot & Dweck, 2005) show that personally meaningful, appropriately challenging tasks are not enough for development of an | 