Technasium, however, includes the examination subject “Research and Design” (Dutch: "Onderzoeken en Ontwerpen").
After the third form, Research and Design becomes a supplementary course, which students can choose within their study program.
Technasium was started as a project in 2004 by Judith Lechner and Boris Wanders at five different schools in the Dutch province of Groningen.
Due to a lot of interest from other schools in the Netherlands, this project has developed into a form of education.
Technasium can be attended in around sixty schools in the Netherlands, and is still developing, especially the subject Onderzoeken en Ontwerpen.
The Technasium education course mostly works with practical assignments, commissioned by real companies.
These companies ask the students to design something, to do research on a certain topic or to think of solutions for problems they are struggling with.
Each year, a national project for the second-year students is launched, with which they can win a big prize.
The Idea of the Technasium Top Award is to activate children's interest in science.
They want the students to base their ideas on the solutions nature has been giving for millions of year, the biomimicry.