Nominations closing soon for Fresh Science 2021

Science in Public is looking for early-career researchers to take part in Fresh Science 2021 — a national competition that finds researchers with discoveries; helps them find the key, compelling ‘story’ in their research; and then puts them in the spotlight, showcasing them to the public and the media.

Fresh Science is a competition helping researchers find, and then share, their stories of discovery. Produced and run by Science in Public, the program takes up-and-coming researchers with no media experience and turns them into spokespeople for science, giving them a taste of life in the limelight, with a day of media training and a public event in their home state.

Now in its 23rd year, Fresh Science has trained over 550 scientists to share their science and generated hundreds of news stories via TV, print, radio and online. 2019’s Fresh Science stories included a non-invasive way to measure brain temperature; monitoring the health of plants through their leaves; and a look at how whooping cough strains are adapting to better infect humans.

In 2021, Fresh Science events are confirmed to run in Victoria, NSW and Queensland in October and November. The organisers are still working on the final sponsorships to lock in events for South and Western Australia.

To apply for Fresh Science 2021, simply use the nomination form to briefly explain your research and provide evidence of peer review. If you are successful, you will take part in the following:

• A one-day media and communication training course where you will meet and chat with journalists from TV, newspaper and radio.
• An evening event at the local pub where you get to practise presenting your results in an understandable and fun way.
• In some states you will get an additional day of professional development where you will meet people from business and government; learn how to pitch and make a pitch; and write a short profile and some social media posts with the guidance of two professional science communicators.
   

Science in Public will also publish a short profile on you and work with you to see if your organisation can issue a press release about your work.

Nominations are open for early-career researchers who have either completed their PhD no more than five years ago or are currently honours students, PhD students or postdocs, currently working in Australia (preferably for work done in Australia). Research should be currently underway, or published/concluded since June 2020, with peer-reviewed results that are cleared for public presentation. Research should be newsworthy but without any current significant media coverage and researchers should demonstrate, through the nomination form, some ability to present their research to a lay audience in a clear, interesting and informative way.

Nominations close on Thursday, 29 July at 5 pm AEST. For more information, visit https://freshscience.org.au/how-to-nominate.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/pict rider

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