FameLab® is a registered trade mark of Cheltenham Festivals, one of the UK’s premier cultural organisations delivering four of the country’s leading Festivals: Jazz, Literature, Music and Science.
FameLab® was set up in 2005 by Cheltenham Science Festival in partnership with NESTA with sponsorship and in-kind support from Pfizer, Silicon 19, Channel 4 and The Daily Telegraph. In 2007 the competition was adopted by the British Council as one of its flagship science engagement projects first in a South East Europe pilot and then expanding this in 2010 to include 14 across Europe, Asia and Africa. Thus FameLab has truly become a growing global phenomenon! Bulgaria is one of the first countries where FameLab has been organised since 2007.
Countries are joining by the day - in 2012 there will be scientists from 21 countries: Austria I Bulgaria I Croatia I Cyprus I Czech Republic I Egypt I Georgia I Germany I Greece I Hong Kong I Israel I Italy I Lithuania I Poland I Portugal I Romania I Serbia I South Africa I Switzerland I UK I USA:
The value of FameLab in building networks, developing talent, and giving national and international profile to science communication is clear. Since FameLab was created, over 2000 scientists, engineers, technologists and mathematicians have applied to join the global competition with hundreds selected to enter the heats and over 150 giving their all in national grand finals.
FameLab sets out to support and encourage these talented young people to use the skills they learn to communicate their work to society as a whole, not just colleagues and peers.
Some of the competition’s much vaunted alumni have found outlets for their skills within the mainstream media from TV to Radio, but the vast majority continue to play active roles in research, manufacture and policy development, whilst undertaking complementary public activities.
We are very proud of their success. It is through developing an international network of 'graduates' from FameLab that we derive so much satisfaction: watching people from all sorts of backgrounds and cultures start to work together, often spontaneously, to deliver outstanding science communication projects.
We are pleased to be doing our part in helping establish science as a valuable asset in diplomacy and cross-cultural understanding. When 15 or more national finalists come together in Cheltenham for the International Grand final all barriers are broken down. Science is a universal and unifying factor where ever we are - provided that the knowledge of such is wide spread and not just for an elite group.
Bulgaria's winner 2011 is geneticist Alexandrina Al-Djassem. Read more about her and the other fascinating finalists.
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