The Institute of Ideas is looking for scientists and other clever people to act as judges for their next Debating Matters competition.

The event sees students unleashing their debating skills in competition with other schools, while a panel of adult judges steers the discussion.

At this year’s final, held at the Wellcome Collection, students debated topics as diverse as whether we should adopt a system of presumed consent for organ donation, whether or not the use of performance-enhancing drugs would undermine the sprit of sport and whether the West is unfairly demonising China.

The competition, sponsored by Pfizer with support from the Wellcome Trust, is now looking for judges to help with the autumn qualifying rounds of the 08/09 event, taking place throughout the UK.

There’s no better place to find intelligent people than Nature Network, so I’m really hoping a few of you will want to get involved with this worthy initiative.

From the Institute of Ideas:

The judging panel is what makes Debating Matters stand out from other competitions. Judges encourage students to think on their feet and substantiate their arguments with in-depth research and intelligent insight to bring a new dimension to every debate.

To register your interest, contact Dave Bowden on davebowden [at] instituteofideas.com