WHAT IS FAMELAB?

Based on the highly successful UK FameLab model, FameLab International is an international talent competition to find the best new talent in science communication. The idea behind 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. Serbia has been in FameLab International from the very beginning - since 2007.

The aim of FameLab is to encourage young scientists to inspire and excite public imagination with a vision of science in the 21st century. With this project, we want to find the new faces of science in Serbia, people who are able to develop their ideas and presentation skills for a non-specialist audience.

The rules of FameLab competition are very simple: every candidate is given a maximum of 3 minutes in which to impress the judges that are looking for exciting and engaging talks that can be understood by a general public adult audience. If you would like to learn more about the competition and how it all looks like once you're part of it,  you can watch the YouTube videos of finalists from this and previous years.

FameLab is organised by British Council in association with Cheltenham Festivals, and our local partner in Serbia is Serbian Broadcasting Corporation RTS. Globally, FameLab has received support from a number of reputable scientific institutions, including CERN and NASA.

FAMELAB SERBIA

To enter FameLab Serbia you should be 18-35 years old and you should either study science or work in the field of science in Serbia. This includes private and public sector students, employees, technicians and anyone working in the fields of science, technology, engineering or maths. Also, you should be able to speak English.

FameLab candidates go through several stages of the competition:

			HEATS: At the Heats, each candidate is given a maximum of three minutes to present a scientific topic of his/her choice. Impress the judges with your knowledge of science, clarity and charisma and you could be selected to compete in the finals.
			MASTERCLASS: The best candidates from the Heats qualify for the Serbian National Finals. They all go through a free three-day Masterclass in science communication, where they have the opportunity to work with a UK science communication trainer.
			NATIONAL FINALS: The National Finals are held in the biggest RTS studio in Belgrade. Same as in the Heats, all finalists get three minutes to present a scientific matter of their choice and convince the judges they are the best science communicator in Serbia. The National FameLab winner wins a trip to the UK, where he/she represents Serbia at the International FameLab competition.

FAMELAB INTERNATIONAL 2012

This year, FameLab was bigger than ever! Apart from Serbia, the competition took place in 18 countries across four continents - from South Africa to Switzerland, from United States to Hong Kong, from Italy to Israel... Young scientists from these countries competed for the title of the Best Science Communicator at the International Finals in the UK in June 2012. The winner of FameLab 2012 was Didac Carmona from Austria.