American Idol meets science communications in the #ChemChamps contest (video)

WASHINGTON, May 15, 2014 — In an effort to find and train promising science communicators – perhaps even find the "Carl Sagan of chemistry" – the American Chemical Society (ACS) is launching the Chemistry Champions contest. Semifinalists in the contest will be flown to the ACS National Meeting in San Francisco for communications training and finalists will compete in front of a live audience. Contest details are available at http://www.acs.org/chemchamps.

The first round of the contest asks scientists to explain their research to the general public in a fun, two- to three-minute video. A sample video for the contest, available at http://youtu.be/JO7X1FsANqY, tells the story of William Henry Perkin, whose communications skills helped him parlay his accidental discovery of mauve dye into a fashion craze, ushering in the lucrative synthetic dye market and other science-based industries.

For more communications best practices, view the #chemchamps live video stream on science communication on Friday, May 16 at 1:30pm EST, featuring ChemChamps' Darcy Gentleman, Ph.D. Viewers can watch and ask questions at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/acslive.

Contest submissions are due by June 6.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 161,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.