FameLab 2026 Terms, Conditions and Rules

Summary

By entering the FameLab 2026 competition, you are agreeing to the following terms:

• You are able to commit to the timeline of the FameLab competiton as specified by WA Museum and have approval for the time commitments from your organisation. (sections 3&5)
• You are NOT a current science communication student or science communication professional. (section 2)
• You have not been a previous FameLab national finalist and have not received FameLab masterclass training. (section 2)
• You are a citizen or permanent resident of Australia who is pursuing studies or working in a scientific field, OR I am an international (non-Australian citizen) researcher who is currently working or studying in Australia and can demonstrate a formal affiliation with an Australian institution. (section 2)
• You are a student who is currently undertaking MSc or PhD qualifications, OR I am a postdoctoral fellow or early-career researcher who has received a MSc or PhD degree within the last five years. (section 2)
• You understand and give permission for collection of photographs and audio-visual material of yourself in relation to the FameLab competition and that these materials may be shared with partners or third parties with which WA Museum works. (section 8&9)
• You understand and agree for data to be collected and held in line with WA Museum policy. (section 7)
• You understand and agree that your name, title, research topics and other non-confidential information may be published on the WA Museum website and other collateral to promote FameLab and its participants. (section 8&9)
• You are able to provide links to at least two sources of evidence of research or projects that you have undertaken.
• You can provide details of and give permission to the WA Museum to contact one referee who can verify your research work.

More detailed information about these terms can be found in this document.

1. The Competition

FameLab is a science communication competition owned and created by Cheltenham Festivals in the UK. FameLab has been run in over 30 countries around the world. FameLab Australia is produced by the WA Museum.

Contestants are given three minutes to present their research in an original, entertaining way, while following the two cardinal rules of FameLab: no jargon and no PowerPoint. Presentations are judged on content, clarity, and charisma - the three Cs of FameLab.

Selected contestants will be invited to participate in comprehensive science communication training and will compete in the online Semi-finals taking place in June. Twelve national finalists will be flown to Perth for a 3-night immersive science communication workshop, and will compete in the live, on-stage Final in Perth on 24 September 2026. One national winner will go on to represent Australia in the online international FameLab Final in November 2026 and will be awarded with a trip to Cheltenham Science Festival in the UK in June 2027.

2. Territory and eligibility

The Competition is open to individuals who meet the criteria below:

• Citizens and permanent residents of Australia who are pursuing studies or working in a scientific field.
• International (non-Australian Citizen) researchers who are currently working and studying in Australia who can demonstrate a formal affiliation with an Australian institution.
• Students who are currently undertaking MSc or PhD qualifications.
• Postdoctoral fellows or early-career researchers who have received a MSc or PhD degree within the last five years.

Unfortunately, you are not eligible to enter if:

• You are currently a science communication student and/or professional.
• You have participated in a previous FameLab National Final or received FameLab masterclass training.

3. Competition dates

The opening date for applications for FameLab 2026 is 9am AWST on Thursday 2 April 2026 and the closing date is 4pm AWST on Thursday 23 April 2026.

WA Museum reserves the right to extend the closing date. Any entry received after the closing date will not be included in FameLab 2026 unless the deadline is extended by WA Museum. WA Museum accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem with any system, server, provider or otherwise that may result in any entry being lost, delayed or not properly registered.

All official FameLab communications and notifications will be to the email address provided in the competition registration form.

Qualified applicants will be notified by 30 April 2026 via email and invited to a 90-minute online science communication workshop prior to submission of a video for Semi-finals selection.

The deadline for video submissions is 1 June 2026.

Successful semi-finalists will be notified by 3 July 2026 via email. Full details of Semi-finals training will be provided at this time.

WA Museum reserves the right to offer a place to another participant if the offer to compete in the Semi-finals is not accepted within 1 week after notification, if the participant withdraws, or if the participant is unable to commit to the time and attendance requirements of the competition including workshops and training.

Regional Semi-finals will be held from 4 - 7 August 2026.

The selected finalists will receive masterclass training in August/September 2026. The 3-night trip to Perth will be held from 22 - 25 September 2026 with the live Final event held on 24 September.

4. How to enter

The Competition will be promoted through the WA Museum website as well as social media and other channels.

Full details of the competition are available here:

https://visit.museum.wa.gov.au/famelab

To enter, participants must complete and submit the application form available at https://form.asana.com/?k=CWy_8ZXUZ2WqSOCwXaMvDw&d=151842890703008

Participants are responsible for ensuring they complete the application form fully and correctly. Once submitted, there is no option to change or edit the entry after the closing date.

5. The offer

The offer consists of a place at one of the FameLab 2026 online Semi-finals in August 2026 in one of the following regional competitions (TBC):

• Semi-final 1: Queensland and South Australia
• Semi-final 2: Western Australia and Northern Territory
• Semi-final 3: New South Wales and ACT
• Semi-final 4: Victoria and Tasmania

WA Museum reserves the right to change the regional semi-finals composition depending on the location of the semi-finalists.

The offer consists of the following:

Selected participants must attend training and deliver a semi-finals presentation as part of the Competition and take part in all programmed activities unless by prior agreement with WA Museum.

Entrants must attend the Semi-finals to be eligible to continue into the FameLab National Final.

National finalists will be chosen by a panel of expert judges at each Semi-final. National finalists will be required to attend a three-night trip to Perth from 22 - 24 September 2026 to participate in intensive science communication workshops, networking events and the national, live FameLab Final.

Economy return flights from the finalists' nearest capital city, three nights' accommodation and all meals will be arranged by, and paid for by, WA Museum. Allowances will be made available to National Final participants for any meals not provided.

National finalists must attend all FameLab activities during their Perth trip and will be expected to participate in associated networking and promotional events. FameLab contestants from interstate will travel on 22 September. Interstate finalists' return flight from Perth may be booked on the 25 September.

The National Final will take place on the evening of 24 September.

Finalists will perform their presentations in front of a live audience. The National Final event will also be live streamed to a broader audience and recorded.

The winner of FameLab Australia 2026 will be determined by a panel of judges appointed by WA Museum from the science and journalistic community, and the winner will be announced at the National Final. Decisions of the judging panel are final. No correspondence will be entered into.

Flights to Perth will be booked as follows:

• The flight to Perth must arrive in time for Welcome drinks at 5.30pm on 22 September 2026
• The return flight can be any time on 25 September 2026
• Any changes made by the recipients to the booking will be at the recipients' expense
• The flights are for a return Economy class airfare only.

6. FameLab Australia winner's prize

The Final participants will be judged by a panel of judges, appointed by WA Museum who will select the winner based on the quality of their presentation and judging criteria determined by FameLab - the content, clarity and charisma of their presentation.

The Australian winner will compete in the International FameLab Final in November 2026 (to be held online) and will win a trip to the Cheltenham Science Festival in June 2027.

The Cheltenham Science Festival prize is personal to the winning participant and cannot be transferred to any third party. The prize cannot be exchanged for money or any other goods or services. WA Museum accepts no responsibility for failure to notify a winning participant or failure to deliver the prize where such failure results from the provision of inaccurate contact details by the participant or from the acts or omissions of any third party (including, without limitation, any internet or postal service provider) and shall have no liability to any entrant if it is prevented from or delayed in delivering any aspect of the Competition or the prizes by acts, events, omissions or accidents beyond its reasonable control.

The winner of Australia FameLab 2026 will be invited to compete in the online FameLab International Final 2026, hosted and operated by Cheltenham Festivals. The winner of the International Final will be announced at the International Final.

The FameLab Australia winner's prize includes a trip to the 2027 Cheltenham Science Festival. This prize includes:

• Return economy flights to London with an airline carrier chosen by WA Museum
• Transport from London to Cheltenham, UK
• 7 nights' accommodation at Cheltenham, UK
• Entry to selected events at Cheltenham Science Festival 2027 (events to be selected by the Organisers in consultation with the Winner)

This prize is not transferrable and only the FameLab Australia Final 2026 winner may claim the prize. Any non-cash part of the prize including flights, accommodation or festival entry are not redeemable for cash.

The prize does not include:

• Securement of passport costs
• Securement of visa costs to enter the UK
• Other ancillary costs, such as personal items, phone and internet usage

Flight to the UK will be booked by WA Museum as follows:

• The flight to the UK must arrive in time for Cheltenham Science Festival in June 2027
• Any changes made by the recipient to the booking after the ticket has been issued will incur a service fee at the recipient's expense
• The prize-winner must hold and carry a valid passport
• The flights are for a return Economy class airfare only. Requests for upgrades cannot be accommodated.

7. Personal data

WA Museum will collect and store the names and email addresses of all participants and the additional details of participants from their entry form.

WA Museum will use this personal data for the following purposes:

• Managing the relationship between the participants and WA Museum.
• Communicating with participants to answer their queries and/or organise their participation throughout the Competition.
• Administering and delivering the Competition.
• Coordinating the selected participants' attendance at the Semi-final and 3-night trip to Perth.
• Adding participants to the FameLab Australia alumni network.
• Marketing and publicity in accordance with section 8 below.

Where a participant has consented to WA Museum doing so, WA Museum may contact the participant using the personal data collected to provide information about the goods, services, courses or promotions that WA Museum offers.

By participating in the Competition, participants consent to their personal data being processed by WA Museum in accordance with, and for the purposes set out in, this section 7.

Participants can exercise their rights to access their personal data held by WA Museum and withdraw their consent to the processing of their personal data by sending an email to: famelab@museum.wa.gov.au

8. Publicity and rights

WA Museum intends to publish the names, photographs and audio-visual material of the semi-finalists and finalists on WA Museum's website, social media accounts, press releases and in other promotional and marketing material. By entering the Competition, each participant agrees to the use of their name and image and agrees to co-operate with any such publicity or marketing if they are selected as semi-finalists, finalists or win a prize.

Each participant also agrees to complete qualitative and quantitative surveys of their experience in FameLab within the stated time provided at the time of issuing each survey and agree that survey results may be published for WA Museum reporting purposes.

Participants will retain copyright in the entry material that they submit to WA Museum. By entering the Competition each participant grants WA Museum, free of charge, permission to use the entry material (including, without limitation, modifying and adapting it for operational and editorial reasons) in any media worldwide for purposes connected with the Competition. Participants who win a prize grant WA Museum further permission to publish and exhibit their entry material (including, without limitation, modifying and adapting it for operational and editorial reasons) in print and any media worldwide for any WA Museum purpose. Each participant confirms that the entry material is their original work, is not defamatory, does not infringe on any Australian laws, that they have the right to give WA Museum permission to use it for the purposes specified above, and that all necessary consents for the submission of the entry material have been obtained.

All rights in WA Museum's name and logo, websites, social media accounts, press releases and other promotional and marketing material, and all training course and examination content and materials (together the "FameLab Materials") shall vest in and remain with WA Museum (or its licensors). By participating in the Competition, participants agree that they will not use, broadcast, publish, export, exploit, reproduce or copy part or all the FameLab Materials.

9. Photographs, filming and recordings

WA Museum may photograph, video, film or record proceedings, participants and attendees during the Competition.

WA Museum, and any entity engaged by WA Museum, may use such photographs, videos, films or recordings for purposes including but not limited to marketing, training materials, producing future conference materials (including transcripts, reports or summaries) which may be published or distributed in hard or soft copy or online or marketing or for the purposes of advertising future conferences or events or publishing the work and activities of WA Museum (whether by means of promotional and publicity materials or programmes, publications, websites, electronic publications, social media or other means) without any payment or compensation being offered and without any request being made to the featured parties, and participants hereby consent to any such media being used anywhere in the world by, or on behalf of, WA Museum.

10. Liability

WA Museum and Partners are not liable for any loss, damage or injury whatsoever which is incurred or sustained by a recipient (including but not limited to indirect or consequential loss or loss arising from negligence) in the course of participating in or indirectly out of or in connection with FameLab (except for any liability which cannot be excluded by law). WA Museum is not liable for any events beyond their control, including but not limited to any legal travel restrictions imposed or cancellation of events forming part of the winner's prize.

Finalists will not withhold information that may impact their ability to undertake the program to the fullest of their ability, including health, financial, and personal reasons.

WA Museum does not exclude or limit in any way its liability to the participants for any death or personal injury caused by WA Museum's negligence, any fraudulent misrepresentation by WA Museum, or any liability which cannot be excluded by law.

Subject to paragraph (a), no liability is accepted by WA Museum for:

1. loss of or damage to property belonging to the participant or anyone travelling with the participant (for example, watches, jewellery, cameras or clothing), or
2. losses or additional expenses incurred by the participant due to delays or changes in travel services, sickness, weather, strikes, riots, war, quarantine or any other cause beyond WA Museum’s reasonable control, or
3. any special, indirect, consequential or pure economic loss, costs, damages, charges or expenses.

11. General

WA Museum may disqualify or refuse to accept the entry of any participant which does not meet the eligibility criteria in section 2 or does not otherwise comply with these Competition Rules

12. Acceptance of Competition Rules

By participating in this Competition, participants are deemed to have accepted these Competition Rules.

 

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