University of Sydney's Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Prize
2008 Winners!
Watch the 2008 prize finalist movies!
Congratulations to the following students:
University category
- WINNER: A Fundamental Misunderstanding
Michael van Drempt
University of Sydney, NSW
Secondary school category
- 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
Primary school category
- 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
About the competition
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.
NEW for 2008!
For 2008, the competition has been expanded to include 3 categories:
Primary School Category
Secondary School Category
University Category
Entries are to take the form of a 1-3 minute video piece and a 250-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.
Prize breakdown for 2008 competition
University Prize
1st - $3, 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.
Entry Form, Closing Dates and Competition Guidelines
The 2008 competition has closed.
- Primary School Category competition guidelines and online entry form
- Secondary School Category competition guidelines and online entry form
- University Category competition guidelines and online entry form
Enquiries may be directed to
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.
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.
2006 Sleek Geek Eureka Prize Finalists
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.
Enquiries
For more information about the University of Sydney Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Prize, please email
