Intel ends support of Science Talent Search

New York Times : The Science Talent Search is perhaps the most prestigious science and mathematics competition for US high school students. Finalists are brought to Washington, DC, to meet politicians, scientists, and industry leaders, and past competitors have gone on to win eight Nobel Prizes and to become CEOs and professors and other leaders in their fields. Although semiconductor and electronics company Intel has been a longtime supporter of the competition, it has now announced that it will no longer fund the event. Since it began its sponsorship in 1998, Intel has increased the awards given to students and schools from $207 000 per year to more than $1.6 million, and the event itself costs only $6 million. The company has not given a clear explanation for why it would end its sponsorship. The Society for Science and the Public, which administers the contest, does not have a replacement sponsor yet, but president Maya Ajmera expects that they will find one relatively soon.