Thursday 28 March 2024

In search for new voices of science communication

Auditions for FameLab Malta competition to be held on Saturday 5th April

Who will be the next FameLab Malta winner? Auditions for FameLab will be held on Saturday 5th April 2014 from 10 onwards at MCAST Institute of Applied Science in Paola.   Organised by The British Council, in collaboration with the National Student Travel Foundation (NSTF) and the Research, Innovation and Development Trust (RIDT) of the University of Malta, FameLab is a competition to find the best new talent in science communication.

FameLab offers young researchers, early career scientists, and science students an opportunity to inject enthusiasm into science-related subjects and communicate science to wider audiences. Science-related subjects can refer to engineering, medicine, dentistry, health science, computer science, maths and other similar scientific fields. One can also send an email to the organisers to make sure that s/he is on the right track.

At the auditions, contestants will have only three minutes to impress a panel of judges by giving an entertaining and original talk that is scientifically accurate but also engaging to a non-scientific audience.   Each judge will assess the finalists’ presentations on three qualities: content, clarity and charisma. Participants aged 18 years and over can register online on www.famelabmalta.org.mt.

The top ten Malta finalists will get the chance to take part in a weekend masterclass in Gozo on the 3rd and 4th May 2014, conducted by an expert in media and communication skills Dr Quentin Cooper. A popular voice of science in the UK, Dr Cooper writes and presents hundreds of programmes including over a decade fronting Britain’s most listened to science shows, the live weekly Material World on BBC Radio 4. He is also the regular host and masterclass tutor for the UK and international finals of FameLab.

The winning prize for the national winner consists of a fully covered trip to the UK to compete and represent Malta in the Cheltenham Science Festival from the 3rd to 8th June 2014.

This is the second time that Malta is participating in FameLab, an international competition spanning over 20 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa and the United States in the search for the next top science communicator.

The FameLab Malta initiative is in line with the University’s Trust, RIDT, highlighting the value and usefulness of science and research. RIDT drives to support research activity and to seek additional funds to expand the University’s research studies.

FameLab Malta also enjoys the support of the Parliamentary Secretariat for Research, Innovation, Youth and Sport, Microsoft, APS Bank, Vodafone, and Stage Malta.

Past winners of FameLab have gone on to travel the globe, perform in festivals and feature on national TV and radio, and many combine public-facing activities with on-going research. Generally all finalists become part of a global network of science communicators.

For more information about FameLab Malta please email famelab@famelabmalta.org.mt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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