University of Sydney's Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Prize

This short film competition encourages students with a passion for science and for communicating ideas to tell a scientific story via a short video piece. The idea is to communicate a scientific concept(s) in a way that is accessible and entertaining to the public as a whole, while painlessly increasing their science knowledge or, as the Sleek Geeks like to say, "Learn without noticing." All you need is a handycam - it's about the content and creativity, not the production values.

2009 Competition Guidelines, Entry Form and Closing Dates

The competition is divided into the 3 categories below. Entries are to take the form of a 1-3 minute video piece and a 50-word (max) description of the video content. Entries may be produced by an individual student, or a group of up to 6 students for the primary and secondary categories, or up to 4 students for the university category.

Visit the links below for competition guidelines for your category. Entries close on Friday 1 May 2009. Get cracking for your chance to win cash prizes and to meet the Sleek Geeks in the flesh!

Primary School Category
Secondary School Category
University Category
Competition guidelines
Competition guidelines
Competition guidelines

Prizes

University Prize
1st - $3,000
2nd - $2,000

Secondary School Prize
1st - $4,000 plus a $500 book voucher from Abbey's Bookshop, Sydney
2nd - $3,000
3rd - $2,000

Primary School Prize
$1,000 plus a $500 book voucher from Abbey’s Bookshop, Sydney

The prize is sponsored by the Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney, with additional support from Abbey's Bookshop, Sydney and Microsoft.


2008 Winners

Congratulations to the following students:

University category Secondary school category Primary school category

WINNER: A Fundamental Misunderstanding
Michael van Drempt, University of Sydney, NSW

WINNER: The Copernican System
Mitchell Connolly
Year 10, Melbourne High School, VIC

SECOND PLACE: Neurotic - A film about brain messages
Nicole Matouk, Ada Jin, Madeleine Cowell & Sarah Young
Year 10, Conservatorium High School, NSW

THIRD PLACE: Fractious Friction
Bayden Allen, Tobias Jackson, Tom Roberts, Daniel Barnaby & Kaleah Balcomb
Year 9, Gosford High School, NSW
WINNER: Eureka!Tom Bird, Cally-Rose Ware, Alex Ridge & Madison Walker
Year 4 - 6, Table Cape Primary School, TAS

HIGHLY COMMENDED: What?! A mountain blows its top off?
Aydin Neighbour
Year 1-2, St Finbarr's Catholic Primary School, NSW 

Watch the 2008 prize finalist movies!


2007 Winners

1st Place: Alchemy: The Golden Age, by Tyler Stewart from Melbourne High School and Billy McNiece, St Michael's Grammar School, VIC

2ndPlace: Zac's Motion Picture, by Nicholas Dyer from Shenton College, WA

3rd Place: Meiosis: The Chromosomal Wonderdance, by Annie Zheng and Genevieve Martin from Kilvington Girls' Grammar School, VIC

4th Place: The Periodic Playground, by Jane Hawkey, Caitlin Henderson, Megan Betz, Jessica Gay, Felicity Kelson and Jasmine Sunely from Bacchus Marsh Grammar School, VIC

The winning entries can be viewed here.

2007 Finalists

2007 Sleek Geek Finalists with Professor David Day, Dean of Science, and Professor Gavin Brown, Vice Chancellor of the University of Sydney



2006 Winners

Sleek Geeks 2006 - Budding science communicators with the University of Sydney’s Dr Karl Kruszelnicki and Dean of Science, Professor David Day.


With over 100 entries from schools all over Australia, the 2006 competition proved to be another huge success. All involved were overwhelmed by this fantastic response and the high quality of entries. Judging was exciting, controversial and of course very difficult as every entry was special and the amount of effort that went into the entries simply amazed the judges.

Finalists and Highly Commended entries can be viewed here.


Q&A with a Sleek Geek Eureka Finalist

Gosford High School graduate and current Faculty of Science student, Matthew Wardrop, shares his experiences and tips on making a short video for the 2006 Eureka Sleek Geek competition. Read the Q&A.

Enquiries

For more information about the University of Sydney Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Prize, please email