QNRF & British Council honour winners of NSRW competitions

As part of the Education Conference 2017 and the National Scientific Research Week (NSRW) at Qatar National Convention Center, the British Council and Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) held the FameLab Qatar finals on Wednesday.

The event was held prior to honouring the winners of the National Scientific Research Competition, the FameLab competition and the Qatar National Astronomy Olympiad.

"Following its fantastic success last year, FameLab returned to Qatar, the only GCC nation hosting this international competition, for the second time. The QNRF is proud to be delivering this competition that promotes science education skills," said Dr Abdul Sattar Al-Taie, Executive Director of QNRF.

Dr Al-Taie stressed that the young generations are"the software, feeding the science and technology ecosystem and the drivers of the future", and that attendants of the ceremony will hopefully feel inspired by the simplified presentations explaining complex scientific processes delivered by the participants.
Finally, he urged the finalists to believe in their strength and take pride in reaching this stage of the competition.

Frank Fitzpatrick, director of British Council Qatar, praised the role of this competition in promoting science communication skills to make science relevant to young people. He pointed out that"raising the ladder for science communication" contributes to attaining the goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030.
He added that the 12 finalists that qualified among more than 300 applicants were trained by UK experts in order to prepare the winner for the Cheltenham science festival where he or she will compete with all the winners from across the world.

Fitzpatrick was grateful for the interest and contribution of QNRF and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education that eased the access to schools in the country.

The judges for the FameLab finals were TV and Radio Presenter Dr Elham Bader al Sada, Qatar University Professor Dr Saed Sabah and Hamad Bin Khalifa University Professor Dr Ahmad Abushaikha.