MEDIA CONTACTS:

Dr Chris Ewels, The Vega Science Trust, CPES, Sussex University, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QJ, UK
Tel: +44-1273-877293,
Fx: +44-1273-677196, 

Gill Watson +44-1273-678726
Email: c.p.ewels@vega.org.uk
http://www.vega.org.uk/

Scientists are becoming increasingly creative in how they communicate their research to the public, and this year’s Vega Awards reflect this change. The Vega Special Award went to “A new way to stop Mercury Pollution”. This was a video commissioned by the German Biotechnology Foundation, to showcase their new technique for using bacteria to remove 99% of the mercury from contaminated water. The video was distributed on CDROM to the managers of all industrial plants producing mercury waste, as well as local schools and science fairs.

“This programme shows that the myth of scientists in their ivory towers is behind the times,” said Chris Ewels, one of the award organisers. “Young scientists are keen to communicate their discoveries. Now with cheaper video recording, and distribution via CDs and the Internet, they have new ways of getting their message out there”.

The Vega Awards are designed to showcase those producing the very best in scientific broadcasting, with an emphasis on scientific content - did the programme communicate real science to the audience in a clear and approachable way?

The awards fall into three categories: The Main Prize, Best Educational Production, and Vega Special Award. Interest was high with submissions from round the globe including Norway, Japan, France, UK, USA and Brazil. The short listed finalists were shown at the “BA Festival of Science” in Glasgow, one of the UK’s largest science festivals, from 3-7th September (http://www.britassoc.org.uk/festivalofsci/), as part of the Vega Science Trust’s popular “Scinematheque” science cinema event.

Applicants ranged from traditional broadcasters such as the BBC, to small production houses and universities. The judges included Sir Harry Kroto, 1996 Nobel prize winner for Chemistry, and Eurfron Gwynne Jones, former head of BBC Education.

The winner of the Vega Main Prize is “Science of Secrecy” by Diverse Productions, for Channel 4. Simon Singh, scriptwriter and presenter for the series said, “Everyone that worked on The Science of Secrecy is very proud of the series. The science of cryptography is fascinating, and there are heroic stories that surround the making and breaking of codes. What was particularly pleasing was the fact that Channel Four encouraged us to explain the science in detail. There was no pressure to skip the mathematics. I am a big fan of telling stories, but the stories should support the science, rather than replace it, which is what we tried to do.”

The Vega Educational Award goes to “Scientific Eye – Green Plants”, by Channel 4 Education. This series, for 11- to 14-year-olds, is watched by over 90% of UK secondary schools. The judges felt it was “an enjoyable, well-produced, educational programme for younger viewers, which made excellent use of the visual medium to explain the life-giving value of plants to mankind. It showed simple experiments that children could do themselves with minimal guidance, and also linked with a fascinating venue (The Eden Project) which can be related to important matters for our young – the biosphere and our relation to it”.

The Vega Science Trust was set up in 1994 by Professor Sir Harry Kroto and Patrick Reams to produce science films for network television and the Internet that reveal the excitement of discovery and reflect science as a human cultural activity - an aspect seldom apparent in media coverage. The first programmes were broadcast on the BBC2’s Learning Zone and programmes are now being co-produced with the OU/BBC for the late night “Science Night”. Vega is also broadcasting on the Internet using streaming sound and video technology. The Trust is a registered charity.

Judges:

Eurfron Gwynne Jones (Former Head; BBC Education)
Harry Kroto (Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, University of Sussex, Founder; Vega Science Trust)
Lawrie Read (President; British Kinematograph, Sound and Television Society)
Laurence Smaje (Former Director; Medicine, Science & History Division of The Wellcome Trust)
Murray Weston (Director; British Universities Film and Video Council)

Quotes:

Harry Kroto: “It is great to see such a range of quality science programming being produced. The winners of this year’s award have put paid to the myth that it is impossible to explain difficult scientific topics to a general audience without leaving them either utterly lost or only giving half the story. The public is increasingly becoming disenfranchised, as most important issues that society will need to face judiciously during the next century will require a degree of detailed scientific understanding. TV and the Internet are visual media with a great potential for educational broadcast, and the Internet will soon make all this material easily accessible”.

Murray Weston: “There were many excellent entries for the Vega Awards - but we must still beware of dumbing down during broadcasting’s peak times while quality content is pushed off to the small hours”. Simon Singh: “It is great to receive the Vega award. Everyone that worked on The Science of Secrecy is very proud of the series. It is terrific to receive another endorsement, especially an award from an organisation that actively promotes science film-making.

What we tried to do was to mix science with story-telling. The science of cryptography is fascinating, and there are heroic stories that surround the making and breaking of codes. What was particularly pleasing was the fact that Channel Four encouraged us to explain the science in detail. There was no pressure to skip the mathematics. I am a big fan of telling stories, but the stories should support the science, rather than replace it, which is what we tried to do.

There are more and more opportunities to broadcast science programmes; satellite, digital TV and, in due course, the Internet. This sounds like great news, but the risk is that science is put into the ghetto rather than being part of mainstream terrestrial television. The shifting of the BBC 1 news means that the 9pm slot, which used to be ideal for science documentaries, is much more competitive, and I fear that science will be pushed into ever later slots, or onto minority channels. I just hope that the terrestrial channels do not give up on science.”