Cairo, 21 February, 2016 – The British Council in Egypt and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research have signed a memorandum of understanding yesterday Saturday 20 February, 2016 at the National Research Center, to reiterate their annual partnerships for FameLab® Egypt for the year 2016. Over the past 6 years 2,500 people participated in the FameLab® competition, and 63 have been qualified to the finals. Each year we have one winner and two runner-ups to travel to the UK to participate in Cheltenham science festival.
Jeff Streeter, Country Director, British Council Egypt said: “We are proud to have the opportunity to work again with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research to present FameLab® Egypt. We would like to think of FameLab® Egypt as an important player in our UK Egypt education relationship. This is the 7th year that FameLab® has run in Egypt and each year it has proved to be one of our most popular and high profile activities. This year we attracted the highest number of applicants showing an increase of interest amongst science communicators who want to play a role in educating others”.
36 of the best science communicators from around the country traveled to the National Research Center in Cairo for the first heat of FameLab® Egypt. The prestigious competition – organised by the British Council and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research –aims to discover charismatic, up-and-coming scientists who inspire people to see the world from a new perspective in just three minutes. For the first time FameLab® Egypt will add two more competitions in Cairo on 25 and 26 March to accommodate for the high demand from science communicators.
Each contestant will take part in one of three semi-finals where they deliver a three-minute presentation on their chosen topic. Every presentation is judged according to the golden rule of the 3 Cs: content, clarity and charisma. The ten winning contestants will then have to deliver another presentation in the final competition in April.
The heats dates and venues are:
| Venue | Date |
| Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport – Alexandria | 27 February 2016 |
| Beni Suef University – Beni Suef | 12 March 2016 |
| Suez Canal University – Ismailia | 19 March 2016 |
Among the most prominent guests at the event were Professor Hazem Mansour, Director of Research Development, and Innovation Programme (RDI), Professor Essam Khamis, Deputy Minister for Scientific Research, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Ms. Zeinab El-Sadr, Executive Director, RDI Programme, Dr. Yasser El-Shayeb, Advisor to the Minister of Higher Education, and Ms. Salwa Mohamed Aly.
This year’s competition is supported by, the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Programme, the Delegation of the European Union in Egypt, Misr El-Kheir Foundation, Al-Alfi Foundation, the National Research Centre, the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport, Beni Suef University, Suez Canal University, the Egyptian Radio and Television Union and Al Masry Al Youm Corporation.
FameLab® is an international competition initiated by the Cheltenham Science Festival and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) in the UK. FameLab® International is delivered by Cheltenham festival’s global partner the British council.