Recently, our very own Year 6 Student Barnaby You represented Varsity College as a finalist at the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes, Australia’s most comprehensive national science awards. Barnaby was flown to Sydney and named runner up, winning $1000!
The awards were established in 1990 to celebrate excellence in Australian science across research and innovation; leadership; science engagement and school science. The awards are known as the ‘Oscars of science in Australia’.
In the Sleek Geeks primary schools category, students were asked to create a 2-minute film exploring a science theme – this year’s was ‘Above and Below’. From hundreds of entries from all around Australia, 25 were selected as highly commended and 3 chosen as finalists.
Barnaby’s film, “Above and Below the Earth” (Exploring the layers of the Earth and its atmosphere, with a humorous nod to Jules Verne), was chosen as one of the 2025 finalists, alongside the films of two girls from exclusive Sydney private schools, PLC and Abbotsleigh.
The Australian Museum and University of Sydney, sponsors of the schools categories, flew Barnaby to Sydney for the awards ceremony!
The finalist prize included a special lunch with TV’s Dr Karl (Kruszelnicki) and senior science lecturers at the University of Sydney, screening of the finalist films, and a private tour of the Chau Chak Wing Museum. Barnaby was also given a personalised University of Sydney jumper, Abbey’s Bookshop vouchers and a signed copy of one of Dr Karl’s books!
In the evening, Barnaby attended a black-tie dinner at Sydney’s historic Town Hall, where the winners of all the categories were announced. Barnaby was named runner up and was presented with a certificate on stage by Dr Karl. As runner up, his prize was $1,000 to be split evenly between himself and our College.
It was a thrilling evening and Barnaby was inspired by this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend time with Australia’s leading scientific minds. He was delighted to play a small role in helping people understand the importance of science, and encouraging them to explore and respect our world!
