Swindon FameLab Academy Winner – Déjà vu? It might be echoes of the mind.
Isabel Aguilar found herself chosen as the winner of the first ever FameLab Academy Swindon. It took place on Friday 20 March, in the final event of the Festival of Tomorrow 2026 Schools Programme. This year it reached more Swindon students than ever before. Isabel – a year 9 student from Abbey Park School – amazed the judges with her talk, ‘Echos of the Mind’, that explored the neuroscience of déjà vu.
The FameLab Academy final took place at the Civic Offices. It followed months of preparation in schools across Swindon. Each participating school selected two students to take part in the final.
FameLab Academy, developed by Cheltenham Science Festival but delivered by the Festival of Tomorrow in Swindon, challenged students to present on a science-related topic of their choice. No PowerPoints were allowed and with only props the student could carry on stage with them. Judging the students’ entries on content, charisma and clarity was a panel of judges from:
- UK Research and Innovation
- the Science and Innovation Park …
… and Cllr Marina Strinkovsky from Swindon Borough Council.
New addition
The competition was one of the new additions to this year’s Festival of Tomorrow Schools programme. This year it provided over 12,500 fully-funded student places on an inspiring range of in-school and online activities. All designed to give young people the opportunity to engage with the research, knowledge and ideas that will shape our future.
Thanks to support from:
- Arts Council England
- Swindon-based UK Research and Innovation
- Business West
- Catalent
- the Science Museum Group’s Science and Innovation Park
- and the UK Electronics Skills Foundation …
… organisers were able to offer Swindon schools an exciting menu of challenges, shows and workshops. All giving thousands of pupils the opportunity to engage with:
- Science
- Technology
- Engineering and the creative arts.
Swindon schools
Over 35 Swindon schools participated in this year’s programme. It included school visits from role models such as astrophysicist Dr Sarah Crick. Also hands-on workshops facilitated by researchers from Ulster University Future Island-Island project or the University of Oxford Vax Hub. Then there were creative sessions with local author Kate Claxton and exciting special assembly shows bringing big concepts to life.
Festival Director, Rod Hebden said ‘There’s a growing body of evidence that children as young as seven are forming attitudes and beliefs about who can and can’t have a career in research or the arts. The latest research shows that, whilst the public are recognising the importance of science to their lives, more and more children are being put off these subjects before they even leave primary school. This can have a negative impact on their aspirations and opportunities as they move forward in life.
Giving young people these rich experiences and chances to meet a diverse range of inspiring role models is important in helping to change some of those perceptions. Programmes like FameLab Academy Swindon are a fantastic way to encourage curiosity about the world. All while supporting young people to develop transferable skills like communication and critical thinking. We’re so grateful to the support of all our funders, partners and presenters for making this possible. And we’re now on the lookout for organisations to support this work to continue next year.’
