Ten scientists are in the finals of the second Polish edition of the FameLab scientific idol competition. The names of the finalists were announced on February 23 at the Copernicus Science Centre. The jury will select the winner on May 11.
FameLab competition resembles TV talent shows. Instead of singers, dancers and equilibrists, competitors are physicists, engineers, biotechnologists and other researchers in the field of science. Scientists participating in the competition have three minutes to comprehensibly talk about an important research issue.
From among 25 semi-finalists, who made their presentations on Saturday at the Copernicus Science Centre, the jury selected 10 finalists. The finalists are: Artur Franczuk, Igor Zubrycki, Adam Gągol, Magdalena Jagielska, Maciej Jasiński, Piotr Konieczny, Grzegorz Kreiner, Magdalena Richter, Marcin Stolarski, Klaudia Szklarczyk-Smolana.
The winners were selected by the jury composed of the world-famous astrophysicist Prof. Marek Abramowicz, cultural expert Dr. Jacek Wasilewski, deputy director of the Copernicus Science Centre, journalist and science populariser Irena Cieślińska, journalist and publicist Piotr Najsztub and the winner of last year\'s Polish edition Monika Koperska.
Candidates now have more than two months to prepare presentations for the finals. During that time, they will take part in two days science communication and stage presentation course.
On May 11, the jury will select the Polish scientific idol, who will take part in the international final of the contest, held in Cheltenham, UK, and receive a cash prize of PLN 30 thousand for scientific purposes, and PLN 5 thousand for any expenses.
More than 60 people sent entries to the second Polish edition of the competition. They represented the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Toruń Centre for Astronomy, the Children’s Memorial Health Institute in Warsaw, polytechnics, universities and medical schools from all over Poland.
FameLab was created in 2005 in the UK by the organizers of the Cheltenham Science Festival. Today, FameLab editions are held in 27 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Polish edition is organized for the second time by the British Council and the Copernicus Science Centre.
Almost 4,000 scientists all over the world have already taken part in the competition. The winner of the first Polish edition Monika Koperska took second place in the world finals in the UK and won the audience award.
PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland
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