180 Seconds of Science | 2016

The 2016 winner of the 'Science Across the Ditch' (or 'New Zealand') category is Helen Taylor, a conservation genetics researcher at the University of Otago with her video entry Studs or duds? Bird sperm and conservation:

Overview
Witness the future of science! The 180 Seconds of Science video competition (#180Science) provides ECRs with a unique opportunity to share their passion for innovative research with the public. It's amazing what you can show in '180 Seconds'.

Eligibility requirements
The ECR Forum considers an eligible New Zealander entrant to be within 10 years post-PhD (or other research higher degree) carrying out research across all science disciplines. Career interruptions and periods of part-time employment will be taken into consideration when determining eligibility. The spirit of this competition is to uncover great science stories from early and mid-career researchers employed in Australia or New Zealand. Please consider whether or not you self-identify as an EMCR before submitting an entry.

How to enter
Tell us about your research in a video of three minutes or less. It could be a general overview of current research or a specific research project you would like to pursue.  It could be some knowledge that is fascinating or correcting a misconception. The goal of the video is to engage a wide audience with your research. Make sure the content is easy for everyone to understand. The more creative and engaging the video, the wider the audience will be who are likely to vote for it. There are no limitations on the style of video created. It may include traditional slides, an animation, a song, face-to-face talking to the camera or combination of above.
Video and audio must be of good quality, we will not accept poor quality videos. 

If possible, contact your university or organisational TV media unit who generally help in creating engaging videos for your research.

Once you’ve uploaded your entry, make sure you promote it on social media. On Twitter, use the handles @EMCRForum and @RSNZECR with the hashtag #180Science to let us know all about it!

Important dates
The cut-off date for entry is midnight on 12 August 2016 (Australian Eastern Standard Time). The voting period to determine the People’s Choice category and Science Across the Ditch category winners coincides with National Science Week in Australia, 13-21 August 2016. The voting period concludes at midnight on 21 August 2016 (Australian Eastern Standard time). All winners will be announced on 22 August 2016.

Competition Categories
New Zealand ECRs: The Science Across the Ditch category is sponsored by the Royal Society of New Zealand Early Career Researcher (ECR) Forum, the Royal Society of New Zealand and the New Zealand Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

Two prizes are open to all New Zealand based entrants. The winners will be decided between 13-21 August. The overall winner (New Zealand Future Leader) will be selected by a panel of New Zealand judges to be announced in the days before voting opens. The New Zealand Future Leader will receive a travel award to attend Science Pathways and a cash prize of $2000 NZD. The Science Across the Ditch People's Choice winner will be decided by public vote, with the winner receiving a cash prize of $2000 NZD.

The prize
The three category winners must be available to attend the Science Pathways 2016 meeting on 26-27 September in Sydney. The three category winners will receive registration to Science Pathways and a non-cash award that includes travel (within Australia or New Zealand) and accommodation costs. Travel awards will be co-ordinated by the EMCR Forum and RSNZ ECR Forum. The overall winner of the Science Across the Ditch category (New Zealand Future Leader) will receive a travel award and a cash prize of $2000 NZD. The winner of the People's Choice for the Science Across the Ditch category will receive a cash prize of $2000 NZD. All cash prizes are to be used for research expenses or travel associated with research.

Conditions of entry
As the submitter of the video, you must be the copyright owner of all content or have permission from the creator to use their content. Credit for content that you do not own must be provided. All entries that breach this rule will be disqualified and removed from the website. By submitting an entry you are consenting to your video being promoted by the EMCR Forum and the RSNZ ECR Forum across different platforms. Your video may be screened at Science Pathways and in school classrooms as part of outreach and engagement activities. Your video may remain available on thinkable.org after the competition has concluded and it may be used in subsequent promotions for the EMCR Forum and the RSNZ ECR Forum.

How will the New Zealand winners be decided?
The winner of the New Zealand’s Science Across the Ditch: Future Leader category will be determined by a judging panel. The members of the judging panel are:

Professor Shaun Hendy, Director of Te Pūnaha Matatini, New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence, University of Auckland
Dr Siouxsie Wiles, Senior Lecturer and Microbiologist, University of Auckland
Dr Victoria Metcalf, National Coordinator of the Participatory Science Platform, Office of the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, New Zealand
Peter Griffin, Manager , The Science Media Centre, New Zealand
Dr Patricia Durance, Minerals Geologist, GNS Science and RSNZECR Forum Vice-chair of Physical Sciences
Dr. Stefanie Kremser, Research Scientist, Bodeker Scientific and RSNZECR Forum Committee Member
Dr Daniel Stouffer, Associate Professor in the School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury and RSNZECR Forum Vice-chair of Biological Sciences
Dr Tom Baker, Lecturer in the School of Environment, University of Auckland and RSNZECR Forum Committee Member
Dr Phillip Steer, Senior Lecturer in the School of English and Media Studies, Massey University
Dr Caroline Orchiston, Research Fellow and Deputy Director, Centre for Sustainability, University of Otago and and RSNZECR Forum Committee Member

The winner of the New Zealand, Science Across the Ditch: People's Choice category will be determined via public (member) poll. We'd like to invite you to view the entries and cast a vote. Anyone from around the world can participate. Go on, help your favourite New Zealand ECR to win $2000 to further their research!

Decision making process for the Science Across the Ditch category will look like this:
The Science Across the Ditch: New Zealand Future Leader will be awarded first. This award is the most prestigious award for the Science Across the Ditch category as the prize includes both a cash of award $2000.00 plus a funded trip to the Science Pathways 2016 conference.
 
The People’s Choice award will be awarded second. This award consists of a cash prize of $2000.00 and does not include a trip to the Science Pathways 2016 conference.

If the same entry is voted as the winner (and there is no tie with another entry) of both the People's Choice and the Future Leader awards this winner will be awarded both prizes.

We will not split any of the cash prizes, as $2000 is just enough to help someone achieve something with their research such as attend an overseas conference or get some analyses done.
 
In the event of a tie in the Science Across the Ditch category the following decision making process will apply:
In the event of a tie between entries A and B for the People's Choice award an independent judge (Giles Dodson) will select the final winner.
In the event of a tie between entries C and D for the Future Leader award an independent judge (Joy Gribben) will select the final winner.
In the event of overlapping or coinciding ties for one entry between the two categories (For example, Entries A and C are tied for the People's Choice award and entries C and D are tied for the Future Leader award), the Future Leader award will go to entry C and the People’s Choice award will go to A
In the event that the same two entries are tied for both awards then Giles and Joy will decide which video will take out which prize by independently scoring both entries. The entry with the highest score will receive the Future Leader award and the second highest score will receive the People’s Choice award.