Meg Paterson’s short documentary exploring the notorious link between winter and catching a cold has been dubbed one of three finalists in the secondary school category of the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes.

The Scots School Albury year 9 student will sit table-to-table with CSIRO scientists and robotics experts at an award dinner at the Sydney Town Hall on August 31.

Meg, 15, spent hundreds of hours creating the three-minute film, explaining in detail the scientific understanding of the most common cold virus.

“I wanted to do something common in our everyday lives and something most people wouldn’t know about,” she said.

“I explain what a common cold is and go into research that explains both sides of whether it’s true or not, you’ll catch your death of cold.

“I learned the winter can’t give you a cold but can trigger a virus already present – the virus has to be there first.”

Scots School science teacher Chris Higgins said Meg was the first finalist from the Riverina in the long-running competition, up against students from Victoria and Queensland. 

“It’s open to students right across the country and they received in excess of 800 entrants this year,” he said.

“The whole stem area is a rising topic in education, so to see younger females being so successful in that is really positive.”

As for avoiding “your death of cold”, Meg’s video offers one piece of advice.

“As long as you keep isolated from every human being, you’ll make it through the winter without catching a cold,” she said.