Nicholas Harrigan, 25, a postgraduate student in Quantum Information at Imperial College, London is the first person through to the final of NESTA FameLab 2007. Nicholas, originally from Bromsgrove, Birmingham, impressed the judges with a humorous take on Spiderman’s ability to climb walls. After fooling the judges into thinking they were about to be attacked by a jumping spider – it was only plastic – Nicholas went on to describe how spiders can stick to surfaces and climb walls.
NESTA FameLab – is a national competition to discover the new voices of UK science and engineering and kicked off at the Science Museum’s Innovative Dana Centre in London yesterday, Tuesday 6 March. The competition - dubbed the science world’s equivalent of Pop Idol - is the brainchild of the Cheltenham Science Festival and NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts).
Nicholas will go on to compete in the NESTA FameLab final with other scientists and engineers selected in the remaining regional heats in Cardiff, Plymouth, York, Glasgow, Oxford, and Belfast over the next few weeks.
Previous NESTA FameLab winners Jonathan Wood and Mark Lewney have brought science to the masses on Channel 4, and BBC TV, and through regular science slots for local BBC radio. Mark’s sell out public performances of ‘Rock Guitar in 11 Dimensions’ are perhaps proof that science is the new rock and roll. Such success is not limited to the winners. NESTA FameLab finalists have hosted TV science shows, appeared on national and local radio and spoken at Festivals ranging from the Cheltenham Science Festival to the Green Man Folk Festival in Wales. Speaking tours with the British Council have seen finalists travelling as far a field as South Africa and Sri Lanka.
Helen Gresty, executive director of Innovation Programmes at NESTA, commented. ‘With much discussion about the lack of engagement in science among the wider population in the UK, identifying and supporting those individuals who can make science compelling is ever more important. Communicating science in the right way can inspire the public imagination and leads to an increased understanding of the way the world around us works. NESTA FameLab helps do just this by encouraging people to become the new voices of science and recognising excellence in science communication.’
Now in its third year, NESTA FameLab identifies and supports scientists and engineers who can inspire and excite public imagination. At regional auditions in March/April entrants get 3 minutes to prove to the judges they’ve got the clarity and charisma to bring science alive. Everyone who enters gets free training in presentation skills from an expert science communicator but only one finalist from each heat will go on to compete in the NESTA FameLab final at the Cheltenham Science Festival. The overall winner will walk away with £2,000, an internship with Channel 4 and an international tour of events.
'A new way of presenting TV science is emerging, with an emphasis on Scientists as human beings, more than authoritative experts’, said Kathy Sykes, Director of the Cheltenham Science Festival and NESTA Trustee. ‘We're trying to identify fabulous scientists - with personality and humanity - and develop and support them to become maybe the Attenboroughs of tomorrow.'
And it’s not just in the UK that new voices of science and technology will be found. ‘With the British Council, we’re helping Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Israel, Romania, Serbia and Turkey to run their own FameLabs this year’, said Timandra Harkness Director of NESTA FameLab. ‘Ten international FameLab winners will be joining the UK finalists at the Cheltenham Science Festival – watch out for a Eurovision Science Contest next!’
NESTA FameLab is supported by The Daily Telegraph, Research Councils UK, The British Council and Channel 4.
For further information and images contact:
Sallie Robins
Publicist NESTA FameLab
020 7249 4858
07733 330344
sr@srPR.net
Ian George
Press Officer
Cheltenham Science Festival
01242 775851
ian.george@cheltenham.gov.uk
Vicky McGuire
Media Manager
NESTA
020 7438 2643
07958635913
press@nesta.org.uk
Notes To Editors:
NESTA FameLab -
NESTA FameLab entrants must be at least 21 years old and WORKING IN SCIENCE. This includes private and public sector employees, technicians and anyone working in the fields of science, technology, engineering or maths. Entrants do not need to apply before the day of audition but are encouraged to register their interest at www.famelab.org to receive updates and information. Regional auditions will be held as follows:
Tuesday 6 March, London, Dana Centre
Saturday 10 March, Cardiff, National Museum
Sunday 11 March, Plymouth, The National Marine Aquarium
Saturday 17 March, York, National Railway Museum
Saturday 24 March, Glasgow, Glasgow Science Centre
Saturday 31 March, Oxford, Science Oxford
Sunday 15 April, Belfast, Black Box
Final, Saturday 9 June, Cheltenham Science Festival
For full eligibility and competition details see www.famelab.org
Cheltenham Science Festival
Cheltenham Science Festival offers both a celebration and critical exploration of science. Using hallmarks of quality, accessibility, debate and enjoyment, the festival presents scientific issues in a challenging and exciting environment, using a range of innovative event formats. The festival seeks to respond to public interest in scientific issues and to create opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to become more informed and to participate in dialogue and debate. Since it started in 2002, the festival has gained the reputation for nurturing talent in science communication and offering new opportunities for people from different backgrounds to engage different audiences in science.
Cheltenham Science Festival 6-10 June 2007
www.cheltenhamfestivals.co.uk
NESTA
1. NESTA is the National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts
2. NESTA is the largest endowment exclusively devoted to innovation in the UK. NESTA uses this unique funding to invest in early stage companies, inform innovation policy and encourage a culture of entrepreneurship. The aim is to transform the UK’s capacity for innovation.
3. NESTA Spokespeople are available for comment and interview please contact our press office on 020 7645 9583 or 07958 635913.
www.nesta.org.uk
Research Councils UK
Research Councils UK (RCUK) is a strategic partnership through which the UK's eight Research Councils work together to champion the research, training and innovation they support. The Research Councils are the main public investors in fundamental research in the UK with interests ranging from arts and humanities, bio-medicine and particle physics to the environment, engineering and economic research. Individually and collectively, the Research Councils support and promote a free flow of authoritative information and exchange of views between scientists, members of the public and policy-makers in the field of science. RCUK are funding the training elements of NESTA FameLab.
www.rcuk.ac.uk
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is Britain’s best-selling quality daily newspaper. Every Tuesday our dedicated science page brings you the latest discoveries and phenomena from the world of science. As well as our main feature, on anything from cosmology to marine biology, mathematics or psychology, there is also Professor Steve Jones's weekly "View from the Lab" where he explains complex scientific ideas in an entertaining and accessible style.
www.telegraph.co.uk
Channel 4
Channel 4 has engaged a new audience with innovative science programming, presented by extraordinary people. Recent highlights include 'Death for Beginners ', presented by Gunther Von Hagens, and 'What Makes Us Human', presented by Armand Le Roi, while the brave new world of transgenics will shortly be explored by Olivia Judson and Giles Coren in 'The Farm', says Louisa Bolch, Science Editor at Channel 4. We are looking for people with real passion, people with charisma, presence and expert knowledge, who can make us open our eyes and see the world in a new way. We're looking forward to getting to grips with Britain's next generation of science communicators.
www.channel4.com
The British Council
The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations, operating independently from the UK Government. The British Council's science programme supports scientific collaboration through the exchange of ideas and knowledge, and by building relationships between young scientists around the world. Through its science and society projects, it stimulates debate about the impacts of science on people's lives and awareness and appreciation of the UK with wider international audiences.
www.britishcouncil.org
ENDS
© Cheltenham Festivals 2006/7