On 2 April, CELSI Scientific Director Prof. Martin Kahanec visited two schools in his native city of Rožňava: Gymnázium Pavla Jozefa Šafárika and ZŠ Pionierov 1, where he once sat in the classroom himself.

As the 2025 ESET Science Award laureate in Outstanding Personality of Science, he spoke with ninth-grade students about what it means to be a scientist, why curiosity matters more than having all the answers, and how big ideas can emerge even from small places.

"Scientists are not people who know everything. Scientists are those who are not afraid to ask," he emphasised.

With students at the gymnasium, he explored a question close to his heart: can you actually achieve something from Rožňava?

Kahanec, who received the City of Rožňava Prize in February 2026, showed that the answer is yes, looking at how to build more from one's home region while keeping both the economic and social sides of life in view.

He used the visits to show young people in a regional city that ambition is not reserved for large centres, and that the future of a country is shaped wherever young people dare to ask questions, try new things, and work to improve their communities.

#CELSI #MartinKahanec #Rožňava #ScienceIsNotBoring #RegionalDevelopment #Slovakia #ESETScienceAward