Sports Personality of the Year 2023 terms and conditions

11 October 2023

The 70th Sports Personality of the Year will be held in December 2023

Terms and conditions

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year programme will take place at MediaCity in Salford in December 2023. The nominations processes, criteria and voting details (where applicable) for each award are outlined below.

BBC SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR AWARD

This award goes to the sportsperson whose sporting actions have most captured the UK public's imagination during 2023.

An expert independent panel (hereafter 'the Panel') will convene in December 2023 to decide the shortlist of sportspeople for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. The composition of the Panel will be published in due course.

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year production team will provide the Panel with an extensive list of the top sportspeople from 2023, including information on their achievements. The Panel will be free to consider other potential candidates.

The Panel will select a shortlist of sportspeople for the main award on the basis of the following criteria:

Reflects UK sporting achievements on the national and/or international stage;
Represents the breadth and depth of UK sports; and
Takes into account 'impact' of the person's sporting achievement beyond the sport in question.

Sportspeople are eligible to be nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award if they are UK citizens or all of the following criteria apply:

they play a significant amount of their sport in the UK; and
their core achievements that year were achieved in the UK, and not with a non-UK based team (in which case they would more likely qualify for the World Sport Star award); and
they have been a resident in the UK for a minimum of 10 years.

Non-playing coaches or management are not eligible.

The Panel will produce a shortlist based on reaching a consensus view. If a consensus view cannot be reached on all or some of the candidates, then the Panel are asked to vote for the remaining candidates. In the event of a tied vote, the chairperson's decision (Director, BBC Sport) is binding.

The Panel have the right to amend elements of this or other awards such as the criteria or numbers shortlisted, should a consensus view be reached - provided such changes remain within the spirit of the award.

Barbara Slater, Director of BBC Sport chairs the panel which consists of representatives from the world of sport.

The 2023 shortlist of contenders will be announced ahead of the main show. The public will then vote for the winner of the award during the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2023 programme in December 2023 (see below).

In the event of:

A tie in the public vote amongst the two contenders obtaining the highest number of votes, the award will be shared amongst those two. There will be no award in the second place category and the third place category award will go to the contender scoring highest after the two in the tie.
A tie in the public vote amongst the three contenders obtaining the highest number of votes, the award will be shared amongst the three and there will be no awards in the second and third place categories.
A tie in the public vote amongst two contenders obtaining the second highest number of votes, the second place award will be shared amongst those two and there will be no award in the third place category.
A tie in the public vote amongst two contenders obtaining the third highest number of votes, the third place award will be shared amongst those two.

The Panel will undertake a back-up vote for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award in the unlikely event of problems with the public vote.

SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR PUBLIC VOTE TERMS & CONDITIONS

Voting for the main award will take place during the live show in December 2023.

Voting will be available by phone or via the BBC Sport website. The number to call for each contender will be revealed during the programme. There is no voting via email, Red Button or by text. The telephone numbers will be available through Red Button and via the BBC website.

Telephone Vote: Voters in the UK can choose either to call from their landline using the long (11-digit) number for the contender(s) of their choice or from their mobile phones using the short (7-digit) number for the contender(s) of their choice. Please note that callers from the Channel Islands and Isle of Man should call from their landlines using the long (11-digit) number to avoid higher mobile charges, as the short (7-digit) numbers are not available in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for reasons outside of the BBC's control.

Calls to the long (11-digit) number from landlines and mobiles cost 15p plus your network's access charge. Calls from mobiles to the short (7-digit) number cost 15p per vote and should cost less than calling the long (11-digit) number from your mobile so please, if you can, dial the short (7-digit) number from your mobile. You cannot text and you cannot dial the short (7-digit) number from a landline. Please do not attempt to vote by calling a 7-digit short number from a landline.

Online Vote: Viewers who wish to vote online will need to sign in to a BBC account at https://www.bbc.com/signin. If you do not have a BBC account, you can register for one for free at https://www.bbc.com/register. If you have any trouble registering or signing in, you can visit the help pages at https://www.bbc.com/signin/help. Please check your broadband or mobile contract to check the cost of using data services.

Online votes will be limited to one vote per BBC account. The online vote will be open during the same period as the telephone lines. The results of the telephone vote and the online vote will be aggregated prior to any announcements.

If you are watching BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2023 on BBC iPlayer, following through a website or any other time shift, catch up or on demand service you should not vote since the lines and online vote may have closed.

Voting is only open to individuals as consumers from the UK, and not to any agencies, businesses and/or companies. Please note that BBC employees who are in any way connected to the vote, their close relatives or anyone directly connected in any way with the production of the programme or the provision of telephony services to the programme are not eligible to vote.

You must obtain the phone bill payer's permission before voting.

Opening and closing times will be specified on the programme.

Please be sure you carefully dial only the number of the contender for which you wish to vote for.

Please do NOT call before the lines open, or after the lines have closed, as your vote will not be counted. The winner will be announced live on the programme.

The BBC reserves the right to disqualify votes if it has reasonable grounds to suspect that fraudulent, excessive or suspicious patterns of voting have occurred or if it considers there has been any attempt to rig the voting.

All voting will be overseen by an independent verification service.

The BBC reserves the right to cancel or suspend voting at any time if it has reasonable grounds to suspect that fraudulent voting has occurred or if it considers there has been any deliberate attempt to manipulate the result. In the event of any such cancellation or suspension, a technical failure or any other malfunction with the vote, the BBC reserves the right to arrange for the winner to be decided by a contingency arrangement from the votes cast by the shortlisting panel (see above for details). The BBC can only guarantee that votes individually entered directly through the telephone numbers promoted by the BBC and those validly registered through the Sports Personality website will count.

The BBC, its sub-contractors, subsidiaries and/or agencies cannot accept any responsibility whatsoever for: (i) any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem with any telephone network or line, system, server, provider or otherwise which may result in any vote not being properly registered or recorded.

This vote complies with the BBC's Code of Conduct for Competitions and Votes: BBC Code of Conduct for Voting. Voters are subject to the BBC Privacy Policy and BBC online Terms of Use. Click the link for more information on how the BBC uses cookies.

These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of England and Wales.

For voting FAQs, please click here.

SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR 2023 PRIVACY NOTICE

Your trust is very important to us. This means the BBC is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal data. It is important that you read this notice so that you are aware of how and why we are using such personal data. This privacy notice describes how we collect and use personal data about you during and after your relationship with us, in accordance with data protection law.

Why are we doing this and how can you participate?

This is your chance to vote for BBC Sports Personality of the Year. You can vote for your selection by telephone or the online from.

What personal data will the BBC collect and how will we use it?

For telephone voting, we will collect your telephone number and voting choice. This personal data is processed in order to provide a robust and reliable voting result to the BBC (this will include counting and capping votes as well as checking for irregularities and, if necessary, for the processing of refunds).

For online voting, we will collect your BBC Account details and voting choice, along with your IP address and other BBC account information such as BBC ID, age category and geographic location derived from your IP address. If you are voting online you must be signed into your BBC account. We use cookies to ensure that online voting is limited to one (1) vote per account holder. This personal data is processed in order to provide a robust and reliable voting result to the BBC (this will include counting and capping votes as well as checking for irregularities).

When voting online, the BBC will collect the votes via a platform used by the BBC.

Who is the Data Controller?

The BBC is the "data controller" of your personal data. This means that the BBC decides what your personal data is used for, and the ways in which it is processed. For the avoidance of doubt, your personal data will be collected and processed solely for the purposes set out in this privacy notice. As the data controller, the BBC has the responsibility to comply, and to demonstrate compliance with, data protection law.

Lawful basis for processing your personal data

The lawful basis on which the BBC processes the personal data is the performance of its public task. The BBC's role is to act in the public interest and to serve all audiences with content which informs, educates and entertains.

We also have a legal obligation to process the personal data of the winners in order to comply with relevant competition regulations.

Sharing your personal data

The BBC works with our approved third-party providers who help us to provide some of our services. These partners only use your personal data on behalf of the BBC and not independently of the BBC.

We may share personal data with a third party where required or permitted by law.

Retaining your personal data

The BBC will retain your personal data for a period of two (2) years for auditing and compliance purposes.

Your personal data will be stored in the UK and the EEA.

Your rights and more information

You have rights under data protection law:

You can request a copy of the personal data the BBC stores about you.
You have the right to request that we rectify any inaccurate or incomplete personal data that we hold about you.
You have the right to ask for the personal data we collect about you to be deleted, however there are limitations and exceptions to this right which may entitle the BBC to refuse your request.
In certain circumstances you have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data, or to object to the processing of your personal data.
You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal data to you or to another organisation, in certain circumstances.

You can contact our, Data Protection Officer if you have questions or you wish to find out more details about your rights, please visit the BBC's Privacy and Cookies Policy at https://www.bbc.co.uk/privacy.

If you have a concern about the way the BBC has handled your personal data, you can raise your concern with the supervisory authority in the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) https://ico.org.uk/.

Updating this privacy notice

We will revise the privacy notice if there are significant changes to how we use your personal data.

SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR 2023 PRIVACY NOTICE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

What is a privacy notice?

A Privacy Notice tells you what personal data the BBC collects about you, how we use it and your legal rights. Personal data means any information that can be used to identify you, such as your name, address or picture. This privacy notice is designed to be read by children and young people, but you might want to read it with your parent or guardian.

Why are we doing this and how can you take part?

This is your chance to vote for BBC Sports Personality of the Year. You can vote by telephone or the online from.

Why do we collect and how do we use your personal data?   

We will only collect your personal data when we need it to help us do our job or to follow the law.

For telephone voting, we collect your vote and your telephone number.

When you vote online, we collect your BBC Account details and who you vote for. The BBC will collect the following BBC account details:

Your BBC ID
Your age category
Your IP address.

Your IP address is a set of numbers that connects your computer to a network. The IP address tells us roughly were you are in the UK.

We collect this personal data so we can make sure there is only one vote per person.

Who looks after your personal data?  

The BBC is the data controllers of your personal data. A data controller is in charge of the personal data collected about you. We have appointed a Data Protection Officer; this person makes sure we do everything the law says we should. If you want to ask any questions about the personal data we collect, please email our Data Protection Officer at DataProtection.Officer@bbc.co.uk   

 The rules we have to follow when we collect your personal data   

The BBC follows the data protection rules when we collect and use your personal data. The rule that we are using to collect your personal data for is called "public task." We use this rule because the BBC was created to inform, educate, and entertain, and campaigns like the one you're entering help us do that.  

We also have a legal obligation to keep a record of your vote to prove that the voting was done fairly and lawfully.

Will your personal data be shared?

When we have to share your information with other people, we will only share it so we can do our job or when the law says that we have to. When your personal data is shared with someone else, they must keep it safe and only use it in a way that the BBC tells them they can use it.

How long will we keep your personal data?   

We will keep your personal data for two (2) years so that we can prove that the voting was done fairly and lawfully.

Your personal data will be stored in the UK and the EEA.  

What are your rights?   

You and your parents/guardians have the right under data protection law to:   

Be told how we use your personal data.   
Ask to see the personal data we hold.   
Ask us to change personal data you think is wrong.  
Ask us to remove personal data when it's not needed anymore.   
Ask us to only use your personal data in certain ways.   
Tell us you don't want your personal data to be processed.

  You can find out more about your data protection rights on our website.   

 More information  

You can contact our Data Protection Officer  

If you have questions or want to find out more about your rights, the BBC's Privacy and Cookies Policy can be found here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/privacy.        

If you have a concern about the way the BBC has handled your personal data, you can complaint to the supervisory authority in the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) https://ico.org.uk/, external.     

 Updating this privacy notice   

We will update this privacy notice if there are big changes to how we use your personal data.

WORLD SPORT STAR OF THE YEAR AWARD

This award goes to the world sport star whose has achieved the most notable sporting success on a world stage during 2023.

The award is not open to those sportspeople who qualify for the main BBC Sports Personality of the Year award under its qualification criteria (see above).

The winner will be decided by public vote and will be announced either in advance of, or during the live programme in December 2023.

COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD

This award goes to the coach who has made the biggest impact on sport in the UK during 2023.

For the purpose of this award, the term 'coach' includes roles such as managers, coaches, trainers and performance directors.

The Panel will decide the winner for the Coach of the Year award based on reaching a consensus view. If a consensus view cannot be reached, then the Panel will be asked to vote. In the event of a tied vote, the chairperson's decision is binding.

The winner will be announced either in advance of, or during the live programme in December 2023.

TEAM OF THE YEAR AWARD

This award goes to the team in a sporting discipline, individual sport or sporting event that has achieved the most notable performance during 2023.

The team must have significant UK interest or involvement.

The Panel will decide the winner for the Team of the Year award based on reaching a consensus view. If a consensus view cannot be reached, then the Panel will be asked to vote. In the event of a tied vote, the chairperson's decision is binding.

The winner will be announced either in advance of, or during the live programme in December 2023.

YOUNG SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR

This award goes to the outstanding young sportsperson aged 17 or under on 1st January 2023.

Young sportspeople are eligible to win the award if they are citizens of the UK or all three of the following criteria apply:

they play a significant amount of their sport in the UK; and
their core achievements that year were achieved in the UK, and not with a national team (in which case they would more likely qualify for the World Sport Star of the Year award); and
they are residents in the UK.

The YSPOTY Panel meet to shortlist the contenders. They select the top three contenders to and also decide a winner by secret ballot and the final vote is independently verified.

The panel includes two representatives from the Youth Sport Trust, a young Blue Peter 'guest' judge, Blue Peter presenter, key sporting talent and three senior members of the production team from BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

The winner will be announced during the live programme in December 2023.

The young judge selected by Blue Peter will be done so using the following criteria:

The applicant will have been successful in their application for a Blue Peter Sport Badge 2023 and the quality of the Sport Badge application may also be taken into consideration.

The quality of the answer to the question, "Why would you be a great judge for Young Sports Personality of the Year 2023?" will be assessed. The answer must demonstrate a passion for sport, show why they are good at making decisions and be all their own work. If there is any reasonable doubt about this, the application will not be considered.

In a phone interview, the candidates will be assessed on their suitability for the role, confidence in a judging situation and ability to deal with the task and appearing on camera.

Being part of the panel that decides who wins Young Sports Personality of the Year 2022 is a responsible role, the young judge will need to be confident working with adults and making informed decisions.

HELEN ROLLASON AWARD

This is a special BBC award recognising outstanding achievement in the face of adversity. It is decided by senior management in BBC Sport.

The recipient(s) of the award will be announced during the live programme in December 2023.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

This award honours someone who has made a major impact on the world of sport during their lifetime. It is decided by senior management in BBC Sport.

The recipient of the award will be announced either in advance of, or during the live programme in December 2023.

BBC SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR UNSUNG HERO AWARD 2023 - AWARD RULES

1. Any UK resident (including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) aged 16 or over on 1 January 2023 is eligible to be nominated, except previous winners of the BBC Get Inspired Unsung Hero Award or BBC Sports Personality of the Year Unsung Hero Award, BBC or BBC Group employees or any person connected to the Awards and their close relatives. Nominees aged between 16 and 17 will require parental consent to be nominated. Proof of age, identity, eligibility and consent (where applicable) may be requested.

2. The nominee must:

(i) either be an individual, two individuals together involved in the same activity, or a formally organised sports or activity group involved in the same activity;

(ii) help amateurs participate in a physical activity or sport, or be engaged in community development work through sport (and that physical activity or sport must have a recognised governing body).

(iii) offer help that does not normally form part of their job or normally take place at their place of work unless such help goes above and beyond their paid work activities in which case an explanation will be required;

(iv) help voluntarily with no financial reward;

(v) be engaged in sporting endeavour primarily; where fundraising results from that endeavour the nominees must not be linked to the charity that has benefitted;

(vi) in the opinion of the person nominating be deserving of a BBC Award;

(vii) not bring the BBC into disrepute (in the BBC's sole discretion); and

(viii) have consented or have parental consent to be nominated.

3. Nominations can be made:

Via bbc.co.uk/unsunghero through the online webform. Entries can be written or video files.

Nominations will be accepted from 7.00am on Wednesday, 4 October 2023 and must be received no later than 11.59pm (UK time) on Monday, 30 October 2023. Each entry route is capped - if more than two minutes of video is submitted only the first two minutes will be assessed. For written entries only the first 800 words will be assessed.

4. All nominations must be on an official online BBC form which can be accessed via bbc.co.uk/unsunghero. No more than two persons can be included in a nomination. Where a group of three or more is nominated, that nomination will be discarded. Persons nominating should declare any professional or personal relationship with the person or people nominated.

5. The BBC will appoint a panel who will pick a winner for each of the 15 BBC nations and regions. These regional winners will then be put forward to the final judging panel that will determine the overall winner. The shortlisting criteria will be:

(i) The impact they have had on individuals and/or their local community;

(ii) The impact they have had on communities at a regional/national level beyond their local community

(iii) The extent of the nominee's contribution at the grassroots level of their sport or physical activity; and

(iv) The personal sacrifices or commitment made.

(v) The extent of the nominee's contribution to people not engaged in their sport or physical activity

Actions which qualify for criteria (i) - (v) will be considered primarily on the previous twelve months. Fundraising activities will be eligible for consideration in the award but fundraising itself is not a criterion and will not gain additional credit in shortlisting the nominations or selection of the winner.

6. Persons shortlisted may be asked to disclose details of any criminal convictions and offences (including any allegations or investigations that are being carried out). The BBC will not require shortlisted finalists to provide information relating to spent convictions. If disclosure is required by the BBC, nominees will be asked to sign a consent form at the time of disclosure. Nominated persons asked for this information must keep the BBC informed of any changes to that disclosed up to the point the winner is announced. This information will be handled in the strictest confidence and, as with all personal data, in accordance with the Privacy Notice.

7. The BBC may undertake background checks of the shortlisted finalists (including searches on public websites and social media platforms). If this is required by the BBC, nominees will be asked to sign a consent form at the time. Information discovered or that may have been disclosed by the entrants themselves will inform the decision as to the selection of the finalists (which shall be at the judging panel's sole discretion).

8. A national judging panel will then meet to select the overall winner based on the aforementioned criteria in section five and any supporting documentation about each of them. The panel will consist of representatives from the BBC, leading sports figures, representatives from the sports volunteering sector and a previous BBC Unsung Hero winner dependent on availability. The judging process will be overseen by an independent verifier.

9. The overall winner will be announced live on BBC One's Sports Personality of the Year 2023 programme, to which the regional winners and one guest are invited to attend. The BBC shall cover reasonable travel expenses for each winner and one guest and such expenses shall be agreed with the BBC prior to booking.

10. The judges' decision as to the winner is final. No correspondence relating to the awards will be entered into.

11. The winner will receive the national BBC Sports Personality of the Year Unsung Hero Award 2023 trophy. There are no cash alternatives and the award cannot be sold or transferred in any circumstances. No commercial gain can be made from using or referencing the BBC brand, the award itself or any other element of this awards process.

12. All winners must agree to take part in any post-award publicity if required.

13. The BBC reserves the right to:

(i) vary the opening and closing times for making nominations and to vary the date of the announcement of the awards;

(ii) disqualify any nominee who breaches the rules or has acted fraudulently in any way; and/or

(iii) cancel or vary the awards or any of the selection processes or criteria, at any stage, if in its sole opinion it is deemed necessary or if circumstances arise outside of its control.

14. The BBC, its sub-contractors, subsidiaries and/or agencies cannot accept any responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem which may result in any nomination not being properly registered.

15. To the extent permitted by law, the BBC will not be liable for any loss or damage (whether such damage or losses were foreseen, foreseeable, known or otherwise) including financial, reputational loss or disappointment.

16. Persons nominating and nominees will be deemed to have accepted these rules and agree to be bound by them.

17. The promoter of the awards is the British Broadcasting Corporation and these rules are subject to the laws of England and Wales.

BBC SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR UNSUNG HERO AWARD 2023 - PRIVACY NOTICE

Why are we doing this and how can you participate?

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Unsung Hero Award is awarded to an individual who has made a substantial yet unrecognised contribution to sport. You can nominate outstanding volunteers who are involved in sport in your community, recognising their impact over the last twelve (12) months.

You can nominate via our online form or via bbc.co.uk/unsunghero, where a downloadable form can be completed and emailed to unsunghero@bbc.co.uk.

If you use the online form, the BBC will collect the personal data via an online platform used by the BBC.

You will need permission from the nominee or the nominee's parents/guardians if the nominee is under 18 years of age.

The winning nominee must agree to take part in any post-award publicity if required. We may use yours or your nominee's contribution for promotional purposes on the BBC's social media sites.

If we broadcast the contribution on-air, this may include the programme being available online and/or on demand, and the contribution may be used again in a future broadcast.

For information in relation to how the BBC will process your or your nominee's personal data, where you are providing contributions to our programmes, please see our Privacy Notice for Contributors here.

What personal data will the BBC collect?

There are two types of personal data: personal data and special category data. Special category data is still personal data, but its processing by the BBC requires the BBC to follow additional compliance steps. 

Your nominee must have been aged 16 years or over on 1st January 2022 to be nominated.

The BBC will collect and process the following personal data about you:

Full name
Postcode
Email address
Contact telephone number
Your submission (video file or written form) which contains your opinion and reasons for nominating someone

The BBC will collect and process the following personal data about your nominee:

Full name
Postcode
UK region where they live
Email address
Contact telephone number
The personal stories and achievements about your nominee that you provide

If your nominee is under the age of 18 years old, we will also collect and process the following personal data about their parent/guardian, to seek permission for their child's nomination:

Full name
Email address
Contact telephone number
Depending on the content of your submission, we will also collect the following special category data about you nominee:
Racial or ethnic origin
Religious or philosophical beliefs
Health information
Sexual orientation

Background Checks

The BBC will carry out background checks on the shortlisted nominees, such online and social media screening checks and DBS checks. The BBC will use the personal data processed as part of background checks to verify that they meet the eligibility criteria. Information returned as part of a background check may not rule someone out of the awards, but non-disclosure of such information, which is later discovered may result in their exclusion from the awards.

Who is the Data Controller?

Lawful basis for processing your personal data

The lawful basis on which the BBC processes your personal data is the performance of its public task. The lawful basis on which the BBC processes your special category data is substantial public interest. The BBC's role is to act in the public interest and to serve all audiences with content which informs, educates, and entertains. This is consistent with the BBC's wider public purposes under its Royal Charter in which the BBC should:

"To support learning for people of all ages: the BBC should help everyone learn about different subjects in ways they will find accessible, engaging, inspiring and challenging. The BBC should provide specialist educational content to help support learning for children and teenagers across the United Kingdom. It should encourage people to explore new subjects and participate in new activities through partnerships with educational, sporting and cultural institutions."

Sharing your personal data

The BBC works with our approved third-party providers who help us to provide some of our services. These partners only use your personal data on behalf of the BBC and not independently of the BBC.

We may share personal data with a third party where required or permitted by law.

Retaining your personal data

We will keep personal data for unsuccessful nominations for up to ninety (90) days after the winner has been announced.

We will keep personal data for winning nominations for two (2) years for auditing and compliance purposes.

Your personal data will be stored in the UK and the EEA.

Your rights and more information

You have rights under data protection law:

You can request a copy of the personal data the BBC stores about you.
You have the right to request that we rectify any inaccurate or incomplete personal data that we hold about you.
You have the right to ask for the personal data we collect about you to be deleted, however there are limitations and exceptions to this right which may entitle the BBC to refuse your request.
In certain circumstances you have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data, or to object to the processing of your personal data.
You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal data to you or to another organisation, in certain circumstances.

You can contact our, Data Protection Officer if you have questions or you wish to find out more details about your rights, please visit the BBC's Privacy and Cookies Policy at http://www.bbc.co.uk/privacy.

Updating this privacy notice

We will revise the privacy notice if there are significant changes to how we use your personal data.

Related topics