Message from the Director
Helen Salmon
Now, more than ever it is important that we value partnerships.
Thanks to the work of the British Council’s incredibly agile producing partner in Australia, The Foundation of the WA Museum, the FameLab 2020 competition was able to move seamlessly from a live stage experience into a digital format.
18 May marks International Museum Day #IMD2020, a day that celebrates the role of museums in creating cultural exchange and fostering mutual understanding. We are living through a time where effective science communications has become critical, and our Museum partner has helped to create opportunities for new trusted voices in the science media, in a time when information really does save lives.
It has been a delight to see the FameLab programme flourish digitally in 2020. Over the past few weeks, I've been on my couch at home, with the Chief Scientists and state museum director partners and other experts on their couches at home, listening to the most amazing stories from early career researchers in their living rooms all over the country. They are speaking to phone cameras that are balanced in the corner on a pile of books, using children's toys or pizza boxes to talk to us about quantum mechanics, about burns recovery and about pandemics.
Over the years, the British Council has supported thousands of STEM researchers to take part in FameLab, developing the skills of emerging science communicators and engage more young Australians with science. The competition provides science communications training and experience while promoting university research collaboration, women in STEM, student mobility and internationalisation of education.
We cannot do this without loyal partners, our trainers, and our judges, we can’t wait to see more FameLab talent in the years to come.