Scientists will have the chance to burst out of their laboratories and into the spotlight when the research equivalent of Pop Idol hits the streets next year.
FameLab , the brainchild of the Cheltenham Science Festival, is a national competition to discover the new faces of science communication.
Entrants will be given three minutes to impress a panel of judges, including fertility expert and television old-hand Robert Winston. They will be assessed on their ability to engage and entertain a non-scientific audience.
Anyone interested in becoming the next David Attenborough or Susan Greenfield is asked to simply turn up at one of a series of regional heats next spring.
The winning scientist will go on a UK tour of speaking events, as well as getting airtime on Channel 4 and £2,000.
Speaking at the launch of the project on Tuesday, Paul Nurse, Nobel laureate and the event's patron, said: "There's a lot at stake: if the public does lose confidence, then support will be lost. If we don't talk about science, there may be no science to talk about."
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