Are you ready to talk science???
FameLab is back for a 3rd year.....

Regional auditions will take place in March/April 2007 - details will follow shortly.

For info on last year's competition see www.famelab.org.

I am gonna enter. I think I might win.

It was brilliant, I mean the London heat. Good luck to everybody else though.

Few tips

*REALLY know your stuff

*First round, no questions were asked, only feedback given but second round, the questions came thick and fast.

*If you are going to use other people's work, don't claim it as your own and know the names of the people whose it is.

*Don't consider people who subscribe to different philosophies as any less.

*Be cautious not to talk about science that you may not be fully proficient in.

*Do talk about science with enthusiasm.

*Do aim to show a range by varying your topic in the second audition, if you are successful.

*Do make sure you are entertaining.

*Do give the answer you are asked for, not an explanation that's not asked for.

*Enjoy yourself, you have three minutes with an audience consisting of top scientists in the media that can give you excellent feedback, be happy for that opportunity.

*Three minutes for a masterclass is a very small contribution and well worth it.

Also give some thought to what Famelab is about and why you are there: what you want to get out of it and how much are you prepared to pay for it, in terms of time and effort.

One of my criticisms would be the advertising. This forum alone has not seemed to attract many responses. I would say perhaps it's because it takes too long to register but not many people even know about this.

People should be made aware particularly those who are going to enter to help them prepare by asking questions. I, myself, didn't get a response until after the auditions, which nobody is to blame for as I had emailed late.

The competition itself isn't very well advertised either in my opinion. I only found out about a week prior to the heats. I didn't have sufficient time to prepare, as it was all googled at 5am on the morning of the event, which the judges picked up on.

The judges had also changed without notification. This wasn't a huge problem not having done research on them but it did come across as if I was trying to win the judges attention in other ways than the talk itself; when in fact I had gone prepared wearing what I thought would stand out on camera. It was actually meant to be two female judges( in addition to the one male and female) which had changed to two males judges. Nevertheless it was very funny the way it was handled and I found it funny myself. Though I was so embarrased that I didn't even attempt to network.

you cant stop me going on this trip, just leave me alone