"We are looking for people who have scientific stars in their eyes, people who can present an entertaining, original and exciting talk that is scientifically accurate but appealing to a non-scientific audience". Kathy Sykes, Cheltenham Science Festival Director, UK

FameLab 2008 final took place on Saturday, 17 May 2008 at Aula Bibliotecii Centrale Universitare "Carol I".

The winners of the final are:

• Victor Popescu from Bucharest, talking about "MultiTouch - an information revolution today"
• Alexandru Stermin from Cluj, presenting "The grebe of Campenesti ponds"
• Raluca Elena Podiuc, exploring "Why, what are microcontrollers for?"

The jury awarded two special prizes to:

• Razvan Gutu from Iasi, talking about "Anti-matter and cancer"
• and Alexandru Popa from Bucharest, launching the question "Computer - tool or life partner?"

The finalists of FameLab 2008 heats were:

- Iasi: Kocsis Ludovic Stefan "Global warming" (1st place), and Razvan Gutu "Screening programmes in treating cancer."

- Bucharest: Stefan Plesca "Brain problem! The impossibility of thinking the future...", Raluca Elena Podiuc "What are microcontrollers for?", Alexandru Popa "Interactive systems" and Victor Popescu, "Intuitive interfaces".

- Cluj: Alexandru Stermin "The grebe of Campenesti ponds", Stelian Vasile Sarlea "Insuline secretion and solutions for diabetes", Oana Melinda Muntean "Genetic programming" and Andrea Szollossi "The 3rd allotropic form of carbon: fullerenes."

FameLab is an initiative of the Cheltenham Science Festival in the UK and 2008 is the second year when the contest is going international in nine countries in South-East Europe through the British Council network. The aim of FameLab is to encourage young scientists (18 to 35 years old) to inspire and excite public imagination with a vision of science in the 21st century.

The competition is searching for the new faces of Science who will be able to develop their ideas and presentation skills for a TV audience. The model is familiar from TV programmes like Pop Idol and Mega Star – you have just 3 minutes to prove yourself to a panel of expert judges, with only the best going forward to the next round, and the talk should be entertaining and original, scientifically accurate but also engaging to a non-scientific audience. The presentation must be held in Romanian.

For further details please contact Gabriel Ivan at gabriel.ivan@britishcouncil.ro.

FameLab 2008 Romania is delivered in partnership with the University of Bucharest, "Babeş-Bolyai” University of Cluj-Napoca, "Alexandru Ioan Cuza” of Iasi, National Authority for Scientific Research and Ad Astra Association.

Media partners: "Sapte seri" and TVR.