About Fresh Science

• What is it?

• When is it?

• Can I enter?

• How did it start?

How to nominate

• Why nominate?

• What will it involve?

• Selection criteria

• Nomination form

Past Fresh Scientists

• 2007

• 2006

• 2005

• 2004

• 2003

• 2002

• 2001

• 2000

• 1999

• 1998

About ScienceNow!

Contact us

Introducing ScienceNOW!

Fresh Science was originally part of a larger event - ScienceNOW! But it outgrew ScienceNOW! which ceased in 2001. Starting in 2002, Fresh Science has been held as a standalone event in association with National Science Week.

Fresh Science is still managed by an incorporated association called ScienceNOW!

The aim of Fresh Science is to bring together scientists, the media, and the public. It is designed to:

• Enhance the reporting of Australian science;

• Highlight and encourage debate on the role of science in Australian society; and

• Provide role models for the next generation of Australian scientists.

ScienceNOW! (the association)

ScienceNOW! (the association) runs a national competition called 'Fresh Science' to identify Australia’s most exciting but unreported science achievements by younger researchers.

We bring the sixteen winners to Melbourne to present their work to the public and the media. For many of them, this is their first experience of the media – we train and support them, promote their stories and encourage them to continue to work with the media as their science careers develop.

ScienceNOW! (the forum)

ScienceNOW! (the forum) was held over four days at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre inside the Great Australian Science Show (GASS) in 1998 and 1999.

This non-profit event run was primarily sponsored by the Victorian and Federal governments and supported by Australia’s leading science organisations including the Australian Academy of Science, CSIRO, Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS), and ANZAAS.

Serious issues at the forum

The ScienceNOW! forum held a series of free public forums with international and Australian speakers on hot science topics, for example:

• In 1999 – The global fight against disease with Laurie Garrett, US author of The Coming Plague. The session, chaired by Sir Gus Nossal, explored the lessons from the collapse of public health systems in Russia where the next generation are being decimated by TB, HIV and other diseases. Garrett was interviewed on the 7.30 Report (by Kerry O’Brien) and elsewhere. The forum was supported by the Menzies Foundation.

• 1998 – Cloning – should it extend to humans – a forum chaired by Geraldine Doogue and broadcast as a one hour episode of Compass

• Science in the media  - an annual critique of science and science reporting

Entertaining issues at the forum

The public sessions at ScienceNOW! covered entertaining issues such as: Time and Time Travel; and Hollywood Meets the Labcoats – our annual irreverent look at science in the movies.

External issues at the forum

Other organisations also staged sessions at the ScienceNOW! forum — sharing venue and promotion costs. These events have included Science in the Pub, Women in Science (with Margaret Wertheim and Pru Goward) and Turning Smart Ideas into Smart Business (with Thinking Melbourne and Telstra)

The exhibition: Great Australian Science Show

ScienceNOW! was staged in a custom-built lecture theatre inside GASS – a free science show that featured exhibits from many Australian science organisations including CSIRO, Scienceworks, universities and research institutes. GASS comprised a lively and interested crowd – 16,000 people in 1998 and 24,000 in 1999.

The legacy of the forum

ScienceNOW!  was designed from the ground up to publicise Australian science. Each year the forum stories generated more than 300 media mentions including significant international coverage. We also invited a prominent international science journalist to participate in ScienceNOW! and then travel around Australia reporting on other hot science issues.

ScienceNOW! developed into a meeting place for Australia’s science journalism and science communication communities with special functions such as the 'Fresh Science Dinner'.

Media contacts: Niall Byrne 0417 131 977 and Sarah Brooker 0413 332 489
Email: media@freshscience.org

Fresh Science is supported by the Australian Government through the
Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research
The State of Victoria - Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development
Museum Victoria - Melbourne Museum and
NewScientist magazine

Fresh Science is managed by Science in Public and ASN Events