Glasgow is leading in developing the Scottish proposition for precision medicine, supported by the £20M Stratified Medicine Scotland Innovation Centre (SMS-IC) – a national collaboration of the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen, NHS Scotland, Scottish Funding Council, Scottish Enterprise, ThermoFisher and Aridhia. Based at Glasgow’s new Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, the SMS-IC will also incorporate the Regional Precision Medicine Catapult Centre of Excellence.
The European Science TV and New Media Awards, organised by EuroPAWS and EuroScience, this year premiered the one-minute mobile film category, inspired by Glasgow City of Science’s sixty-second film model. Glasgow City of Science partnered with GMAC Film (Glasgow’s talent development centre for independent filmmakers) to pioneer the SCI SHORTS challenge for local filmmakers, with support from Creative Clyde and People Make Glasgow.
SCI SHORTS 2015 tasked filmmakers to produce one-minute films in response to Glasgow’s ground-breaking scientific innovations in satellite technology, precision medicine and 3D digital visualization. Participants were briefed by inspirational experts from Clyde Space, the University of Glasgow’s MVLS team and the Digital Design Studio at Glasgow School of Art.
The project culminated with a Showcase and Awards Event in Cineworld IMAX, at Glasgow Science Centre, where over 100 people watched the submitted SCI SHORTS and the regional winners were announced. Kevin Agnes and Ana Pinzon won the Audience Award for their film Ana, while the Jury Award went to Rowan Ings for Eclipse.
As an official Associate of the European Science TV and New Media Awards, Glasgow City of Science entered six of Glasgow’s SCI SHORTS in this year’s European competition. Festival and Awards Director, Andrew Millington, explained that they received many entries from different countries but only 5 were selected for the final shortlist. Mr Millington said, of the five finalists from 3 European countries, Ms Rao’s “was felt to be clearly the best” by the international jury.
Ecstatic with the news, Isa Rao exclaimed of her win: ”SCI SHORTS was a superb learning opportunity for me and now winning this European Award is just amazing. I am currently doing a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Glasgow and I feel really passionate about making science communication fun and creative.”
Director of GMAC Film, Filippo Perfido, enthused: “60 seconds, zero or no budget, a good idea and a simple, yet still very important message to convey. This is not just an extremely informing and entertaining short film, it’s a successful experiment and the best example of what we had in mind when we sat down with our friends at Glasgow City of Science to discuss and develop SCI SHORTS.”
Glasgow City of Science also participated in the European Young Jury Prize. Alongside participants from Germany, Portugal and Denmark, Glasgow convened a jury of 30 young people, from across the west of Scotland, to participate in an interactive film festival and judging panel. Glasgow’s vote chimed with the overall international consensus and the Young Jury Prize went to Austria’s Killer IQ: Lion Vs Hyena.
Glasgow’s victory at the European Science TV and New Media Awards is a huge accomplishment for Isa Rao, for the SCI SHORTS activity and for the city. Dr Susie Mitchell, Programme Director of Glasgow City of Science, said “the arts have the ability to story-tell, spark curiosity and emotionally connect our science to the wider public; how it impacts on their lives and the world as a whole. Thanks to everyone who made SCI SHORTS 2015 such a success.”