Terms and conditions
1. For the purposes of the Reid Bursary, the North West of England is defined as the counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside.
2. For the purposes of the Summerfield Trust, Gloucestershire is defined as the six district councils of Gloucestershire (i.e. Cheltenham, Gloucester, Stroud, Tewkesbury, Cotswolds or Forest of Dean).
3. Applications will be open from 09:00 Wednesday 28 October 2015 to 23:59 Friday 27 November 2015. Applications made outside of these dates will not be considered.
4. Successful applicants will be notified by Tuesday 1 December 2015 and will have 24 hours to confirm if they wish to accept the award. If successful applicants do not confirm their acceptance via email within this period, an alternative applicant will be selected.
5. Each prize will be made up of two tickets, with one prize being awarded to a child in Gloucestershire and one to a child in the North West.
6. The two CHRISTMAS LECTURES tickets provided will be for one junior (young person aged 11-17 years) and an accompanying parent or guardian for the lecture to be filmed on Saturday 19 December 2015. Guardians must be at least 18 years of age. Please be advised that the junior and parent/guardian will not be sat together during filming of the Lectures.
7. Ticket holders must consent to filming and sound recording as members of the audience. Please ensure that appropriate parental permission is obtained before attendance.
8. Reasonable expenses will be covered for transport (travelling to/from and within London), overnight accommodation, and meals (dinner and breakfast) for the length of stay.
9. The awards are non-transferable and cannot be exchanged for the cash equivalent.
10. The IDACI index will be used to determine child deprivation by school postcode.
How to apply
Applications are open between 28 October and 27 November 2015 for teachers from the North West or Gloucestershire who believe a pupil aged 11-17 at their school would benefit from this fantastic opportunity. To apply, please email xmaslecs@ri.ac.uk with a short paragraph (no more than 200 words) explaining why that student would benefit from attending the CHRISTMAS LECTURES. Teachers will need to include their student's name, address and contact details. Please note – applications will not be accepted from parents and should be sent from a school email address.
Competition
The Royal Institution is offering teachers from the North West of England and from Gloucestershire the opportunity to enter disadvantaged students into a competition to attend the filming of the CHRISTMAS LECTURES. The Reid Bursary and Summerfield Trust will fund these sensational experiences for a disadvantaged child from the North West of England and from Gloucestershire respectively.
The CHRISTMAS LECTURES are a series of televised science lectures for children, broadcast between Christmas day and New Year’s. Started in 1825, the CHRISTMAS LECTURES have become an annual hallmark in the festive calendar.
This year’s CHRISTMAS LECTURES ‘How to survive in space’, hosted by space medicine expert Dr Kevin Fong, are set to blast children off on an out of this world journey through the science of human space flight. Each winning child, along with an accompanying adult, will be whisked to London for an expenses paid trip, including transport, accommodation, meals and of course audience tickets for the filming of one of the CHRISTMAS LECTURES.
The Royal Institution is thrilled to be able to provide the delights and excitement of attending the CHRISTMAS LECTURES to children passionate about science but who lack the means to support their curiosity. This promises to be an exciting opportunity for two young science enthusiasts to be a part of one of the country’s longest-running and most popular science engagement events for young people.
About this year's Lectures
Tim Peake is set to become the UK’s first European Space Agency astronaut. In accordance with this historic event, Dr Kevin Fong presents the 2015 CHRISTMAS LECTURES ‘How to survive in space’, an exploration into the science behind human space flight. The three-part series will delve into how humans propel themselves into space, how our bodies adapt and change once there, and what lies in store for our future spacefaring endeavours. The series promises to be a joy for any child interested in space and the great unknown.