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Terms and conditions 2015

Terms and conditions 2015

I. Who is eligible to participate?

  1. The competition is open to participants from all nationalities and all scientific disciplines (including social sciences and humanities).
  2. When submitting their contribution to the Science Slam, eligible participants should be:
    • 18 years or older AND
    • enrolled in aMasters or PhD program or working as a professor or researcher at a recognized university, research institute/centre or private research company in North America
  3. To enter the competition participants must be willing and able to participate in the final EURAXESS Science Slam North America that will be held in Chicago on 19 October 2015. Economy return flights (1 ticket per person) and hotel accommodation (up to 2 nights) to the finals will be booked and paid for by EURAXESS Links North America for the finalists based outside Chicago.
  4. Candidates must show proficiency in English to be able to take part in the meeting with European Commission policy officers to be awarded to the winner.
  5. Only one entry per person.

II. How to participate/apply?

The EURAXESS Science Slam competition consists of two stages: Winners of the 'virtual' pre-selection will qualify for the live finals to be held on 19 October 2015 in Chicago.

II.a. The 'virtual' pre-selection

  1. To enter the competition participants are invited to showcase, in up to 3 minutes, the way they will present their research at the live finals. They can either:
    • send a video introducing or showcasing their performance. The video must not exceed 3 minutes in length.
    • introduce or showcase their performance in a 3-minute skype interview with EURAXESS Links North America representatives.
      Participants are free to choose presentation styles and equipment as they see fit. It has to be done in English.
  2. Submissions must clearly show the participant presenting his research in a manner chosen by him or her. Animation only is not permitted.
  3. To enter the competition each participant is invited to fill in the registration form available here. A notification email confirming receipt will be send within 3 working days.
  4. Candidates are invited to upload their video via the Drop-it-to-me platform. The requested upload password is: "Science_Slam_2015".
    The video can also be uploaded on any other platform and the candidates can post a link to our Facebook site, our Twitter account or our LinkedIn group.
    Participants can also send their video or the link via email directly to northamerica@euraxess.net. Please fill out the subject line of the email as follow: EURAXESS Science Slam North America 2015 Application - Your name. A notification email confirming receipt will be send within 3 working days.
  5. Submissions are possible from 29 May to 21 September 2015.

EURAXESS Links North America accepts no responsibility for entries that are defective, lost or delayed, or which are not received for any reason.

The video entry should:

  1. not exceed 180 seconds
  2. be done in English
  3. feature only the person who is to present on the day of the finals of the EURAXESS Science Slam North America 2015
  4. start with the statement of the author's name, research position and home/host institution.
  5. be a shorter/synthetic version or a 'teaser' of the actual performance to be given during the LIVE slam event in October 2015

The online competition will be evaluated by a jury composed of the two EURAXESS Links North America Representatives among other members. They will select up to 5 finalists from all submissions received by the end of the submission deadline.

Submitted videos will be assessed based on the following criteria, all of equal importance:

  • Accessibility for non-experts
  • Conceptualisation of slam
  • Presentation style
  • Originality & Creativity

The "production quality" (image quality, quality of the support material or equipment etc.) will not be a selection criteria, as long as the resolution, light and sound quality allow the jury to see and hear the performance clearly. Videos shot with smartphones, webcams and any video recording devices will all be accepted.

Finalists will be notified by email. The selection will also be announced on the EURAXESS Links North America website and other online channels used by EURAXESS Links North America (these can include LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or any other social media as well as publications such as the EURAXESS Links newsletters). The judges' decision will be final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

II.b. The live finals

The 5 finalists will compete at the live finals of the EURAXESS Science Slam North America 2015 to be held in Chicago on 19 October 2015. A return economy flight and hotel accommodation (up to 2 nights) will be provided by EURAXESS Links North America for the finalists based outside Chicago.

The 5 finalists will present live in front of a non-expert audience composed of members of the research community and of the wider public.

  1. The presentations will be done by one person only.
  2. Every presentation will be done in English.
  3. A prize will be awarded to the best performer as decided by the audience (40%) and the jury (60%).
  4. Each presentation shall not exceed 10 minutes.
  5. Presentations can be supported by video and audio material, ppt. slides and any other kind of media available, as well as by scientific equipment, in accordance with the venue's capacity and security measures.

The presentations/performances of the 5 finalists will be assessed based on the following criteria, all of equal importance:

  • Accessibility for non-experts
  • Conceptualisation of slam
  • Presentation style
  • Originality & Creativity

By entering the competition, the winner agrees to support EURAXESS Links North America with the production of further promotional material (which may include photography, filming or interviews) in the context of the Science Slam competitions as the organizer (EURAXESS Links) may reasonably require.

The panel of judges for the live competition will be comprised of a team of science communicators, research scientists and/or administrators from North America and Europe and the two EURAXESS Links North America Representatives.

III. The first prize

The winner of the LIVE finals will be awarded the first prize. The first prize consists of the following components:

  1. A free round-trip to Europe (Brussels, Belgium) in the spring of 2016.
  2. In Brussels, the winner will be invited to visit the EU headquarters in Brussels, enjoy a science communication training and meet with European Commission policy officers (DG RTD, ERC, MSCA,etc.).
  3. During the stay in Europe, EURAXESS Links will assist in arranging a meeting at one research organisation/institution of the winner's choice within the European Union. In case of a successful meeting arrangement, EURAXESS Links will finance the trip to this institute. However, EURAXESS Links cannot guarantee any meetings with a particular organisation or individual. If no meeting can be arranged, EURAXESS Links will not be held responsible.

EURAXESS Links does NOT cover any travel or other costs unrelated to the actual prize. EURAXESS Links will only cover the following expenses:

  1. The economy round-trip flight from the city the winner is based in during the time in question to Europe to attend the meeting with European Commission representatives arranged by EURAXESS Links.
  2. The costs for accommodation and food during the stay in Brussels, Belgium.
  3. The costs for the travels (bus, train or flight ticket) to the meeting with a research organisation of the winner's choice within the European Union (incl. accommodation for up to 2 nights in the respective city).

The prize will not be transferable to another person.

IV. Intellectual property rights and disqualification

By participation in this competition all participants declare that they hold the intellectual property rights to the research presented.

Abusive and derogatory entries will be disqualified.

Contact:

Ms. Viktoria Bodnarova / Mrs. Stephanie Jannin

Regional Representatives

EURAXESS Links North America: northamerica@euraxess.net

science_slam_na_2015_web.pdf