The European Commission has announced the names of the 23 nominees for the 2005 Descartes prize for science communication.
Five finalists and five winners will be chosen from the field of nominees at a Descartes Prize ceremony in London on 1 and 2 December. The ten successful individuals will share the 275,000 euro prize fund, with winners receiving 50,000 euro each and finalists claiming 5,000 euro.
This year’s nominees are drawn from ten countries and represent a wide range of communication fields – books, Television programmes and documentaries, interactive events, multimedia products and press columns. What they all share is a proven ability to communicate complex issues to a wider audience.
The competition is open to winners of national science communication prizes, with national organisers able to nominate candidates in the following categories: professional scientists engaged in science communication to the public, popularising science through the written word, popularising science through audiovisual and electronic media, innovative activities in science communication, and editorial policy in favour of the promotion of science.
Among the professional scientists nominated for an award is Professor Colin Pillinger from the UK, for his role in communicating information about the Beagle 2 lander – part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express mission – to the wider public. Professor Pillinger was recognised nationally with a Sir Arthur Clarke Outreach Award after giving more that 250 lectures to school children, learned societies, business clubs and parliamentary committees. His citation reads: 'Through regular media briefings and appearances on popular TV shows, he has succeeded in raising public awareness of space research. His efforts have also helped to elevate the public profile of [ESA’s] Mars Express mission.’
Also nominated in the same category is Professor Albrecht Beutelspacher from Germany, who created the travelling exhibition 'Mathematics you can touch’. The exhibit went on to become the world’s first interactive museum dedicated to maths, and currently attracts over 150,000 visitors per year. Professor Beutelspacher was recognised with a Communicator Prize in 2000 for creating 'a new approach for the public at large to the world of numbers, formulas and shapes’.
A well-known name in the list of nominees for those who have popularised science through the written word is the author Bill Bryson, for his book 'A short history of nearly everything’. In collaboration with a number of experts, the bestselling work tackles topics ranging from the origins of the Universe to the evolution of mankind, and was recognised in the UK in 2004 with the Aventis prize for popular science books.
For their work in promoting science through audiovisual and electronic media, Catherine Peix and Peter Chappell are nominated for their documentary on 'The origins of AIDS’, which won a 'Science et Cinéma’ prize in France in 2004. The multi award winning film traces the history of HIV/AIDS through interviews and first-hand accounts, and explores some of the mysteries surrounding the disease.
The 23 nominees were shortlisted by a high level panel of scientists and communications specialists from a field of 63 candidates representing 16 countries. This represents an increase in submissions of 30 per cent compared with 2004 for the prize that was first launched by the Commission only two years ago.
For more information on the Descartes prize for science communication, please visit:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/descartes/communication_en.htm
Category: Programmes
Data Source Provider: European Commission
Document Reference: Based on IP/05/1195 and MEMO/05/343
Subject Index: Education, Training; Scientific Research; Social Aspects
RCN: 24514
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