‘Stars of Science’, a New Pan Arab TV Contest to Showcase Young Arab Innovators

DOHA, Qatar - A Contest Shedding Light on the Most Innovative Students Science and Technology Projects Will be Broadcast Across Middle East and North Africa.

Young Arab innovators are set to compete in the newly-launched TV contest ‘Stars of Science’, to be broadcast from May 29 across the Arab region.

‘Stars of Science’ is an initiative of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, which has an overarching mission to promote human development in Qatar and the Middle East region.

This previously unseen Pan Arab program will star 16 Arab students from 11 countries, emerged from a rigorous selection process which screened more than 5600 applications from all over the world.

The candidates will have the opportunity to develop their own project of innovation in a state-of-the-art workshop, built especially for the show, at the recently inaugurated Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) in Doha.

Through an impressive reality-TV set up, the cameras will follow them as they go through the different stages of the innovation process and encounter numerous thrilling challenges.

Their work and progress will be monitored and evaluated by a jury of 3 world-class experts:

- Dr. Sadeg M. Faris (Libya), an engineer holding over 600 patents - William Sawaya (Lebanon), renowned designer - Dr. Mona Zaki (Egypt), marketing consultant and prominent businesswoman

The program will be broadcast over 5 weeks, from May 29 to June 26. It will consist of 5 prime-time episodes (90 minutes), on Fridays, and 20 daily shows (45 minutes), from Sunday to Thursday.

It will be presented by Khalid Al Jumaily, a young, friendly and dynamic host from Qatar.

After a kick-off episode on May 29, covering the final selection of the candidates, held in Doha, Tunis, Cairo and Beirut, each of the following prime-time episodes will revolve around a specific challenge:

- Episode 2: Engineering (June 5) - Episode 3: Design (June 12) - Episode 4: Business (June 19)

The 5th and final episode, to be broadcast live on June 26, from Aspire Sports Academy in Doha, will let the viewers vote for the winner of a $300,000 prize.

In parallel, the daily shows, broadcast in access prime-time, will allow the viewers to follow the life of the candidates within the workshop and to learn more about science in an entertaining way.

‘Stars of Science’ is set to endorse a healthy competitive spirit, encouraging creativity, team-building and innovative careers amongst the youth in the Arab world.

One of the main features of this original format is its non-eliminatory process: at the end of each prime-time episode, half of the projects remain in competition, while the candidates form teams evolving all along the contest. From 16 candidates and 16 projects at the beginning, the show ends with 2 teams of 8 students and 2 projects facing for the finale.

The students will also benefit from an array of technological resources and the support of field experts, as well as the precious contributions of 4 universities established in Education City, Doha (Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, Texas A & M University at Qatar, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar), as well as of from the College of North Atlantic-Qatar and Qatar University.

Conceived as a Pan Arab program aiming at making science and technology accessible and attractive, “Stars of Science” will be broadcast all across the Arab World and available to the widest audience.

Qatar Foundation, with the help of the Arab States Broadcasting Union and Qatar Television, has indeed achieved, for this initiative, a previously unseen Pan Arab partnership with 15 public and private channels to date, which will broadcast the program.

“The aim is to showcase the whole process of innovation - from inspiration, to the elaboration of a concept, its development and finally, its application” said Dr. Abdulla Al-Thani, Vice President, Education of Qatar Foundation. “Science and technology will now be given an entertaining twist through the very popular reality TV show format, making the topic accessible to all. We hope ‘Stars of Science’ will promote the innovative spirit of young people in the Arab world.”

For the latest updates, log on to www.starsofscience.com.

More about Qatar Foundation:

Founded in 1995 by decree of His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, Qatar Foundation is a non-profit organization focusing on education, scientific research and community development. Under Qatar Foundation’s umbrella are Education City which comprises elite universities, several academic and training programmes and Qatar Science and Technology Park which boasts more than 21 world class companies involved in scientific research and development.

Chaired by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, Qatar Foundation also aims to enhance lives through community development initiatives including Doha Debates, Reach out To Asia and Al Jazeera Children’s Channel.

Joint venture partnerships in the areas of design, ICT, telecommunications, policy studies and event management contribute to fulfilling the objectives of the Qatar Foundation.

Contacts: For more information on ‘Stars of Science’ Impact Porter Novelli Rebecca Flynn Email: r.flynn@ipn.ae Tel: +971-50-259-2376 For information on Qatar Foundation Tariq Al Sada or Omar Chaikhouni Tel : +974-454-0967

Source: Qatar Foundation

Contacts: For more information on ‘Stars of Science’: Impact Porter Novelli, Rebecca Flynn, Email: r.flynn at ipn.ae, Tel: +971-50-259-2376. For information on Qatar Foundation, Tariq Al Sada or Omar Chaikhouni, Tel : +974-454-0967