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How to nominate

Nominations for 2008 are now closed.

Nominations for 2009 will open in March/April 2009. Please email us if you would like to receive the invitation to nominate.

There are other prizes for early career scientists - check our list of science prizes at www.scienceinpublic.com

The criteria for 2009 will be similar to those for 2008 which appear below.

How to nominate: 2008

Please:

Why nominate for “Fresh Science”?

Fresh Science offers the potential for wide media exposure for your work. It helps young researchers develop expertise in presenting their ideas clearly to a general audience and to the media.

 

Fresh Science also assists the media to identify and publish accurate stories about Australian science, and demonstrates that science in Australia is exciting, vibrant and successful. Fresh Science encourages and provides recognition for Australia’s best young scientists and engineers.

 

The selected researchers are likely to gain substantial media exposure. In previous years our Fresh Scientists have attracted national and international interest resulting in hundreds of media stories in Australia and overseas.

 

What will it involve?

The successful nominees will:

·         Participate in a one-day media and communication training course;

·         Have access to experienced science communicators to advise them on talks, media releases and interviews;

·         Swap ideas with other participants;

·         Present their research to the media and to public audiences;

·         Take part in a Fresh-Science-at-the-Redback event;

·         Attend an evening reception with representatives from business, government, research and the media; and

·         Have the opportunity to, and be expected to, participate in talks in their home state during Science Week.

 

Travel and accommodation will be provided for participants from outside Melbourne.

The Fresh Scientists will also have the chance to win a one-year subscription to NewScientist; and a one-week internship with The Australian newspaper.

The Fresh Scientists also have the chance to win a one-year subscription to NewScientist and a one-week internship with The Australian newspaper.  

Fresh Science selection criteria

The nominees and prize winner will be selected by the Fresh Science selection committee, which comprises scientists, journalists and science communicators.

 

The committee is looking for Fresh Scientists who can tell an interesting story in everyday language about their significant, peer-reviewed, scientific achievement.

 

The initial selection will be made on the basis of the nomination form submitted. This means how the application is written will be used as a guide to the ability of the nominee to communicate in everyday English.

 

The nominee should write their own entry.

 

The nominee must have a peer-reviewed discovery. Researchers must be able to explain what they have found or discovered not what they are planning to find or discover.

 

Please note that the committee will select the Fresh Scientists not only on quality of their science, but also on the interest and presentation of their topics. Our selection will also include a spread of disciplines, topics, gender and states.

 

 

Criteria:

    ·         The research must have been conducted in Australia or by an Australian scientist;

    ·         The research must have reached a significant milestone and produced a peer-reviewed results or discovery

    ·         Evidence of peer review must be presented;

    ·         The research must not have had significant media coverage;

    ·         The research must be current or have been published or concluded since 1 January 2007;

    ·         The research must be cleared for public and media presentation i.e. you may need to consult with your collaborators and commercial partners;

    ·         The nominees must demonstrate the ability to present their research to a lay audience in an informative, interesting and easily visualisable way;

    ·         Research teams may nominate, but a single person who has played a substantial role in the research must be named as spokesperson. Only that individual will be invited to participate in Fresh Science and present the work;

    ·         We are looking for early career scientists. Researchers must be in the early stages of their career, eg honour students, PhD students and post docs. Age per se is not a barrier. But nominees must be no more than five years past the completion of their PhD (if they have one);

    ·         Researchers must not have an established media profile; and

    ·         Nominations must be made online using the Fresh Science nomination form

    Fresh Science is supported by the Federal government’s Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, the Victorian government’s Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development the Melbourne Museum and NewScientist.

Nomination form: nominations are now closed

  • Note: we are using SurveyMonkey to collect the nomination information - this makes it much easier for us to manage the nomination and judging processes - without the complexity of designing our own interactive interface.
     

  • We recommend that you use the Word version of the nomination form to prepare your nomination. You can then cut and past the information into the online form to submit your nomination. Open the Word form here or right click on this link to save the file on your computer.