Based on the highly successful UK FameLab model, is a national talent competition to find the best new talent in science communication.
Originally created by the UK’s Cheltenham Science Festival, the idea of the competition is to take science out of the classroom and make it fun, and to encourage young people with a passion for science and technology to share their enthusiasm with the general public.
The aim of is to encourage young scientists to inspire and excite public imagination with a vision of science in the 21st century. We are searching for the new faces of science in Greece, who will be able to develop their ideas and presentation skills for a TV and non-specialist audience.
Entrants have three minutes to impress the judges by giving an entertaining and original talk that is scientifically accurate but also engaging to a non-scientific audience. They must be at least 21 years old (and preferably up to 35), working in science and have a good knowledge of the English language. They may be a private or public sector employee, technician or working in the fields of science, technology, engineering or maths. The competition aims to provide new opportunities for scientists to develop their skills as communicators.
The qualifying round of the competition took place on Monday 5 March 2007 at the Theatre Anesis, where the participants presented a scientific topic to the panel of judges in three minutes.
The ten finalists are:
The runners-up of the qualifying round, in winning order, are:
The final round took place on , where the finalists were asked to give a five-minute presentation on a different science topic of their choice.
The winner was selected by both the jury and the audience:
Dr Spiros Kitsinelis, Light Source Researcher, spoke about . Dr Kitsinelis has a master's degree in Chemistry from the University of Sheffield, where he also gained his PhD for research into the development of light sources, which he continued as a post-doctoral fellow at Ehime University in Japan. He held the position of Project Leader at Philips Lighting in the Netherlands, and his most recent activity is the undertaking of a research programme aimed at developing the next generation of plasma light sources for the Physics department of the National Technical University of Athens. He is the author of a number of scientific publications, has attended many international conferences and is the co-creator of a number of patents.
The jury consists of the members (automatic systems engineer and writer), (Director of the Institute of Biological Research and Biotechnology at the National Research Foundation), (actor and presenter of the science programme ) and (mathematician and writer).
The 10 finalists and the 5 runners-up will win a weekend masterclass in science communication. They will work with science communicators and media trainers to develop their media and presentation skills.
The overall winner chosen at the final in Athens will attend the Cheltenham Science Festival in the UK, where will present its UK finalists in June 2007.
The winner will also receive a laptop, and the two runners-up will each receive a digital camera.
There will also be an audience award.
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