Every year there is a WikiScience Contest all over the world. In 2023, Valeriya Lavrenko, head of the Noosphere Archaeology project, was named the winner of the Ukrainian stage of the contest.
This competition of scientific images is held every year to popularize research through interesting images. This year, 72 Ukrainians took part, submitting 362 scientific images in five categories: People in Science, Microscopy, Living Organisms, Non-Photographic Images, and a General Category. The works were evaluated by a jury consisting of scientists from various fields who represented top Ukrainian and international scientific institutions.
Third place in the People in Science went to Noosphere’s Valeriya Lavrenko for her photos taken in 2022 during an expedition to the Balka Kantserka archaeological site.
Balka Kantserka is tied to the Alan tribes from the 7th century. The area was known across Eastern Europe as a center of pottery making during the early Middle Ages. The expedition was conducted jointly by the Dmytro Yavornytsky Dnipropetrovsk National Historical Museum and the Oles Honchar Dnipro National University. Excavations were carried out using the latest technologies, in particular LIDAR technology, which led to several important discoveries.