Online voting for 'The IOI- Kids 2008 Competitions' is now open on the IOI-Kids website www.ioikids.net/ioikids/news/comp2008/index.php.

These competitions were organised on topics related to the sea for children aged five-10 and youngsters aged 11-16.

They provided an avenue for young authors to share their original works and projects with other children in Malta and worldwide by publishing them on the IOI-Kids dedicated pages.

The competitions consisted of 'The IOI-Kids Young Journalist Award' with works consisting of news or articles, and 'The IOI-Kids Best 2008 Project' with works consisting of various types of educational projects, write-ups in the form of lessons, essays, poems, stories, Powerpoint presentations, web pages and videos.

The competitions closed at the end of September and the response was excellent, with around 300 participants. The contributions were shortlisted by an expert selection panel and the works are now online for direct voting by children and the general public. Votes may be cast up to December 7 for a total of four works, one from each category.

Prizes will be awarded to the best contribution from each category together with a number of token gifts to other participants. The local awards will be presented to the winners in December and selected works will be eventually placed as a permanent item on the IOI-Kids website.

The competitions were organised by the University of Malta's IOI-Malta Operational Centre, which undertakes research and studies related to the sea, promotes education, training and public awareness as well as provides services in physical oceanography.

IOI-MOC created the IOI-Kids website www.ioikids.net to present knowledge on the marine environment in an appealing format to children and teenagers through the use of interactive games, fora, surveys and informative featured articles.