Tag: Science Talent Search

November 20, 2017

The 2017 Science Talent Search

Followers of this site will be well aware that Australian Skeptics are proud long-term sponsors of the Science Teachers Association of Victoria’s annual Science Talent Search.

Here are the statistics for 2017:

2017 was the 66th year of the STS.

3,369 Victorian students entered; the largest level of participation for several years.

704 Cash bursaries were awarded.

There were 42 sponsors, ranging from multinational companies to private individuals.

The Australian Skeptics were a major sponsor: 90 students received bursaries funded by the Australian Skeptics.

Science Talent Search: Bursary Winners sponsored by The Australian Skeptics

We congratulate Janice Teng and her team of volunteers for a great event. If you are interested in STS and would like to know more, go to  http://www.sciencevictoria.com.au/sts/

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May 6, 2016

The Science Talent Search Search

Are YOU a former Victorian student who earned one or more Science Talent Search bursaries while at school?

Do you know such a person?

If so, we’d love to hear from you.

Please tell us what you’re doing now, and send us your STS reminiscences including your name and school, and whatever you can remember about your entry (how old were you at the time? What category did you enter; models, essays, research, computers, photography or games? What was the title of your entry?)

Send to vic[at]skeptics.com.au.

We will not use any of this information without your permission.

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November 9, 2014

Happenings – October/November 2014

1. The Genesis II Church advertised a seminar at Clayton Community Centre from 14th to 16th of November at $500 per participant. The Church’s leader, Jim Humble promotes MMS (Miracle Mineral Solution) as a cure for diseases such as Malaria, HIV, autism and Ebola. MMS contains bleaching agents – including sodium chlorite, chlorine dioxide and calcium hypochlorite.

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These are seriously dangerous chemicals. A spokesperson for the Victorian Poisons Information Centre said a total of 10 people – with four needing further treatment at the hospital – had reported feeling ill after administering MMS with symptoms of vomiting and diarrhoea.

The Genesis II Church’s practices have already been the subject of joint FDA and ACCC investigations and legal action. View More Happenings – October/November 2014

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November 20, 2013

Science Talent Search 2013 – many talented students found

by Terry Kelly

For the 11th consecutive year the Australian Skeptics have sponsored the Science Talent Search (STS) run by the Science Teachers Association of Victoria (STAV).  The awards have been going for 62 years and many prominent Scientists have benefited from the encouragement these awards gave them when they were at school –  Tim Flannery, for example.

More Photos of STS Below
More Photos of STS Below

This year there were almost 2000 entries and 584 Bursaries were awarded. Australian Skeptics sponsored 65 of these Bursaries (one in nine) making us one of the major sponsors, alongside such large and respected organisations as the CSIRO, BHP Billiton, The Royal Society of Victoria, Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria University and the University of Melbourne. It’s one of the best things the Australian Skeptics do. It’s a great boost for the students and priceless publicity for us.

The awards ceremonies, and displays of the entries, were held at La Trobe University on November 6th. Categories were : Creative Writing; Experimental Research; Inventions; Working Models; Science Photography; Video Productions; Games; Computer Programs; and Posters and Scientific Wallcharts.

We had 5 of our Victorian Committee attend the ceremonies which gave us a wonderful opportunity to meet many of the students we sponsored, and their families. They seemed to View More Science Talent Search 2013 – many talented students found

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October 2, 2013

Science Talent Search 2013

by Chris Guest

For the 11th consecutive year, the Australian Skeptics are a proud sponsor of the Science Teachers of Victoria’s annual Science Talent Search. 2013 marks the sixty-second year of this important event.

Each year thousands of Victorian school students from lower Primary to Year 12 enter science projects in the categories of experimental research, working models and inventions, computer programs, science photography, games, essays and posters in a state wide competition.

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This is a small sample of entries in last year’s Working Models and inventions category. (Click on the picture to enlarge it).

View More Science Talent Search 2013

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November 9, 2011

The Sixtieth Science Talent Search

by Ken Greatorex

Victoria’s mainstream media have pulled off a remarkable feat! It was the Diamond Anniversary of an annual Good News event involving thousands of intelligent, motivated Victorian children, staged in a city which thrives on Major Events; and yet, the Media still pretty much managed to keep it quiet!

The Science Talent Search celebrated its 60th birthday this year with the theme “React to Chemistry“. Students entered original projects in categories of creative writing, experimental research, inventions, working models, photography, posters, games, computer programs and video productions. The adjudged cream of Victoria’s budding young scientists made the annual pilgrimage to Latrobe University to receive cash bursaries and other rewards from prominent local scientists.

Terry Kelly and I attended Exhibition Day on behalf of Australian Skeptics Science and Education Foundation. ASSEF funded more than seventy bursaries this year along with other major sponsors including The Department of Early Childhood Development, Swinburne and Latrobe Universities,  the Catholic Education Office, The Royal Society of Victoria, Rio Tinto, CSIRO and BHP Billiton. It was impossible for us to meet all of the hundreds of bursary winners; however we were able to interview a small cross-section whose contributions intrigued and impressed us. View More The Sixtieth Science Talent Search

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November 14, 2010

The Science Talent Search and The Skeptics

How do you get people to think a little more critically? How do you encourage an appreciation of science? Those are questions that skeptics ponder.
However, there are such opportunities right under our noses – things that we’ve been doing for years that somehow don’t get much PR, yet generate huge good will. Victoria’s Science Talent Search is a great example.
Australian Skeptics Inc are major supporters of STS and have been involved since 2003. Vic Skeptics committee members are also represented in the organisation and judging.
The good will generated by STS is amazing. Kids get to exercise their passion for science, science teachers get to show off their best and brightest, and the parents are often there proudly supporting their kids; and most importantly of all, it’s the perfect event for Australian Skeptics to get behind and support.
Participants in the Science Talent search need to demonstrate originality, and the ability to meet a number of criteria specific to the category in which they enter. For example, students who perform an experiment must submit a report which contains an introduction, aims, materials used, the method followed, results, a discussion of the results, a conclusion, and a list of acknowledgements and references. On this criteria participants are judged and graded.
Look at this thank you letter from a Junior Primary age participant.

Surely the financial contribution from Australian Skeptics, together with the effort by those on the Victorian Skeptics committee is worthwhile – just for that one letter? But there View More The Science Talent Search and The Skeptics

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