Rules and regulations
Eligibility
“Science, Action!” (the “contest”) is a video contest organized jointly by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and le Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT) (the “contest sponsors”). It is open to graduate students who are part of a team currently working on or who have worked on research funded through an NSERC or FRQNT research grant at a Canadian institution (the “contestant”).
- The contestant must be 18 years of age or older.
- The contestant must be a graduate student (enrolled in either an MSc or PhD program at a Canadian Institution).
- The contestant must be part of a research team that includes a professor who holds or has held an NSERC or FRQNT grant. Postdocs, undergraduate students, research associates and other grad students or professors may also be included as additional team members.
- The project or initiative funded by the NSERC or FRQNT grant must be the inspiration for the video.
- Employees of NSERC or FRQNT and their immediate family members, including those living in the same household (whether legally related or not), are not eligible. For the purposes of the contest, immediate family members are defined as spouse, domestic partner, parents, legal guardians, in-laws, grandparents, siblings, children and grandchildren.
Contest period and entry
Contestants must agree to the contest rules and submit their entry electronically via the Science, Action! secure upload site (the “contest entry portal”) between Monday, January 16, 2023, and Tuesday, February 28, 2023, by 11:59 pm (ET) (the “closing date”). It is the sole responsibility of each contestant to ensure all required materials are received by the contest sponsors by the closing date and that their submission complies with the rules governing the Science, Action! contest.
Video and description criteria
Contestants must submit, via the contest entry portal, (i) a video featuring a research project or initiative funded by NSERC or FRQNT, (ii) a written video description, and (iii) confirmation that the professor who is part of their team holds or has held an NSERC or FRQNT grant, including the recipient’s name, the grant title, relevant information about the program, etc. (the “submission”).
- Submissions must not exceed sixty (60) seconds in length for the video component, 950 characters (including spaces and punctuation) for the written video description and 99 megabytes total (for all electronic files, including audio/video).
- Only one entry per person or team is permitted.
- The video component must be submitted as a .MOV, .MPEG4, .MP4, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEGPS, .FLV, 3GPP or WebM file via the contest entry portal.
- Links to websites, public or private, will not be accepted.
- Submissions must be in either English or French.
- Submissions must be respectful and courteous; those that are offensive to an individual or an organization, rude in tone, or abusive will not be accepted. The contest sponsors reserve the right to refuse, edit or remove any of the following:
- racist, hateful, sexist, homophobic, slanderous, insulting or life-threatening content
- serious, unproven, unsupported or inaccurate accusations against individuals or organizations
- abusive, aggressive, coarse, explicit, vulgar, violent, obscene or pornographic content
- content that encourages or suggests illegal activity
- announcements, solicitations, advertisements or endorsements of any organizations or corporations
- attempts to defame or defraud any individual, group or agency
- content carrying mis/disinformation
- unintelligible or irrelevant content
- The contest sponsors will perform an initial review to select 25 submissions that will proceed to the judging panel. This selection will be made based on the technical quality of the video and its effectiveness of communicating the intent and benefit(s) of the chosen research subject.
- NSERC and FRQNT reserve the right to make changes to the contest rules, to temporarily interrupt the contest or to cancel the contest at any time and without prior notice, without having to justify their decision and without being held accountable for it to anyone in any way. No damages or compensation may be claimed.
Prizes
The contest sponsors will perform an initial internal review to decide which 25 videos will be evaluated by a panel of judges. The contestants who submitted these 25 videos will be considered the “finalists.” Finalists will be eligible to win one of six (6) cash prizes worth up to $4,000. The six submissions with the highest scoring marks, as decided by a panel of judges according to the criteria described below, will be deemed the winning videos, and the contestants of these submissions will each be awarded a cash prize.
Finalists could be invited to participate in various activities to discuss their video, and they may be required to agree to do so. The recipients of the six cash prizes (the “winners”) will be announced in June 2023 on NSERC’s and/or FRQNT’s websites and/or social media pages.
Important information about entering the contest
- Submissions will not be returned to contestants.
- Submissions are considered final once the entry deadline has closed. The contest sponsors will not accommodate any requests for updates or alterations to videos or written content.
- Contestants must consent to the use, reproduction, publication, transmission and/or broadcasting of his/her name, likeness, and/or prize information, without compensation, in any publication or promotion by the contest sponsors, for the purposes of promoting the contest, the videos, the winners and/or finalists, and/or the benefits of research in the natural sciences and engineering fields, and within the celebrations of the International Year Of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development 2022 (IYBSSD 2022).
Judging
Submissions will be reviewed by a panel of judges chosen by the contest sponsors. The decisions of the judges and the contest sponsors on all matters relating to the contest are final and not open to appeal.
At the time of adjudication, any judge deemed by the contest sponsors to have a real or perceived conflict of interest with a submission under consideration will be recused from discussions on that submission. A judge will be considered in a conflict of interest if the submission involves:
- a friend
- an immediate family member (as defined above)
- an institutional colleague
- a person with whom the judge is involved in a dispute
If the contest sponsors, in their sole discretion, deem that an insufficient number of submissions has been received or that the quality of these submissions is inadequate, the contest sponsors reserve the right to not award any prizes and to terminate the contest.
Judging criteria
The top six (6) videos will be decided by a panel of judges. Finalists that meet all eligibility requirements will have their submission judged on the following criteria:
Content quality: link to IYBSSD (40%)
- Is the video scientifically sound and does it clearly make the connection between basic sciences and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? Is why the chosen topic is important for the SDGs explained? Does the video clearly explain the research and benefits obtained from it? Does the video explain the results, conclusions and potential impact of the research?
Impact and creativity (30%)
- How well does the video draw in the viewer and keep their attention? Is the video creative, original and innovative?
Representation of research (20%)
- Is the project design, research and methodology appropriately presented in the video? Can the subject matter be understood by a non-expert?
Production and technical appeal (10%)
- What is the overall quality of production, including visual and audio elements?
Winners
Each of the six winners will be notified by email no later than June 2023 that their submission has won and of the procedure to follow to claim their prize. If an individual declines the prize, it may be awarded to another participant in accordance with these contest rules and regulations.
All winners will be announced on both NSERC and FRQNT’s websites and/or social media channels no later than June 2023.
Privacy and intellectual property
- The submission must be an entirely original work created by the contestant, and the contestant must have all necessary rights in and to the submission.
- The submission must not infringe upon or violate any laws or any third-party rights, including but not limited to, copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights and must not constitute material that would be considered libeling, defamatory, a privacy violation, tortious or a contract breach.
- By submitting a video to the contest, the contestant agrees that NSERC and FRQNT are not responsible for any copyright infringements that might arise or for any litigation that might ensue from such infringements.
- The contestant must obtain, and make available to the contest sponsors upon their request, all necessary permissions, licenses, clearances, releases, Creative Commons permissions, waivers of moral rights and other approvals from third parties (including but not limited to all copyright holders and all individuals appearing in the submission) necessary to use the submission, in whole or in part, in any way, including without limitation, to reproduce, make derivatives, edit, modify, translate, distribute, transmit, publish, license and broadcast the submission worldwide, by any means.
- In the event that the submission contains any reference to or likeness of any identifiable third parties, the contestant must obtain, and make available to the contest sponsors upon their request, consent from all such individuals and their parent/guardian if they are under the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence.
- Prize-winning contestants (“winners”) must grant NSERC and FRQNT, irrevocably and in perpetuity, the right to use their submission, in whole or in part, in any way, including without limitation, to reproduce, make derivatives, edit, modify, translate, distribute, transmit, publish and broadcast the submission worldwide (by any means) and to authorize others to carry out such acts as listed above in this section without compensation.
- To protect their own privacy and the privacy of others, contestants must not include personal information including, but not limited to, phone numbers, social insurance numbers, banking information, resumes or email addresses in their submission. Any submissions that appear to contain such personal information may be deemed ineligible.
- Contestants who submit an entry and whose video is selected to be evaluated by the judging panel (“finalists”) must consent to let NSERC and FRQNT and/or their partners use, reproduce, publish, transmit and disseminate, without compensation, their names, likeness and information about their awards in any publication or promotion activity, to promote the contest, the videos, the winners and/or finalists, and/or the research.
- All contestants release NSERC and FRQNT and their respective personnel, agents, representatives and delegates from any liability for damage of any kind resulting directly or indirectly from the contestants’ participation or attempted participation in the contest.
Personal information
Any personal information collected in order to administer the contest is under the control of the contest sponsors and will be managed in accordance with the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act (ATIP). Information collected for the purposes of administering the contest may be subject to disclosure in accordance with the ATIP.
Personal information of finalists and/or winners, such as name, likeness, institution of enrolment and/or prize information may be used from time to time by the contest sponsors, without compensation, in any publication or promotional material for the sole purposes of promoting the contest, the videos, the winners and/or finalists, and/or the benefits of research in the natural sciences and engineering fields, and within the celebrations of the International Year Of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development 2022 (IYBSSD 2022).
Questions regarding the contest rules, including the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information may be directed to ScienceAction@nserc-crsng.gc.ca.
General rules
- Before collecting a prize and within five (5) calendar days of being notified that their submission has won, all winners will be required to provide consent and release confirming, among other things, compliance with these contest rules and regulations, acceptance of the prizes awarded and consent that their personal information, such as name, likeness, the institution of enrolment and/or prize information, may be used, without further compensation, in any publication or promotional material by the contest sponsors, for the sole purposes of promoting the contest, the videos, the winners and/or finalists and/or the benefits of research in the natural sciences and engineering fields.
- All prizes must be accepted as awarded, without substitution. Prizes are not transferrable nor convertible to cash and are not for resale.
- Names of the winners will be made public no later than June 2023 on both NSERC and FRQNT’s websites and/or social media channels (e.g., Twitter and Facebook).
- The contest sponsors reserve the right to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the contest at any time, for any reason. Any notification of such action will be posted online on NSERC and FRQNT’s websites and/or social media channels, and contestants are encouraged to periodically check for such notifications.
- The contest sponsors reserve the right to change contest rules and regulations without reason, including, if necessary, to comply with any applicable law. Any notification of such action will be posted online on NSERC and FRQNT’s website and/or social media channels, and contestants are encouraged to periodically check for such notifications.
- By entering this contest, contestants agree to abide by these contest rules and regulations and acknowledge that the contest sponsors shall not be responsible for any damages, costs, demands, claims or losses of any kind incurred by any contestant as a result of participation in this contest.
- This contest shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Ontario and Quebec and any applicable federal laws. These rules and regulations govern all aspects of the contest and are binding on all contestants.
- This is a skills-based contest and is void where prohibited by law.
- The contest sponsors are not responsible for entries that are delayed, lost, misdirected, incomplete, damaged or destroyed. Any entry that is tampered with, unreadable, unintelligible or mutilated will be ineligible. The contest sponsors are not responsible for telephone, computer or network malfunction or error (whether technical or human in nature), communication disruption or other forces beyond the reasonable control of the sponsors.
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