SO YOU WANT TO BE A SCIENTIST?

Got an experiment you want to conduct? A theory to put to the test?

Material World, Radio 4's weekly science show, is searching for the BBC's Amateur Scientist of the Year.

It's not just working scientists who have light bulb moments. Anyone, anywhere can have a brainwave that's worth investigating. But most of us never get the chance. This is that chance.

We want to hear your ideas, however practical, whimsical, big or small. We're not hoping to crack nuclear fusion, reverse climate change or discover the Higgs particle.

Your ideas may involve:

- your local environment
- human behaviour
- kitchen chemistry
- energy and recycling
- traffic and transport
- amateur astronomy

Here are some examples of amateur research projects that don't require a Large Hadron Collider to carry out.

If your idea is selected, you'll be doing the experiment in your spare time, from the kitchen table or the garden shed. Plus you'll have help from the country's top researchers.

Give it a go. It could just change your life. It might even change the world.

More information and to take part, visit the BBC page here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/so-you-want-to-be-a-scientist/.