February Science Enthusiasts to Battle in Famelab Galway Regional Heat

Scientists and science enthusiasts will battle it out for a place in the national final of Famelab, the largest science communication competition in the world. This is the fourth time that a regional heat for the international competition will take place in Galway. The competition will be held on Thursday, 21 February, at An Taibhdhearc Theatre at 7pm and is free to attend.

The contestants come from a variety of backgrounds, covering sciences from Physics to Biology. Presentations will cover a set of topics including “Blockchain”, “Rock and Roll and the “Right Hand Rule” and “A Threat to Modern Medicine”.

The competing scientists will be given a total of three minutes each to explain their research, or any scientific concept, as clearly, simply and charismatically as possible, to a public audience and a panel of judges. This will be followed by three minutes of questions from the judges and the audience. Competitors are given the instruction that they can use ‘only what they can carry with them onto the stage’ to help illustrate their stories.

Two finalists will be announced on the night and will be sent forward to a communications master class in Dublin on 22-24 March. They will then compete in the Irish final of Famelab which will be held in the Science Gallery in Dublin on Thursday, 11 April.

The overall national winner will attend the Cheltenham Science Festival, UK in June 2019 and will compete in the FAMELAB International finals.

The evening will be hosted by Professor Michel Destrade, Chair of Applied Mathematics at NUI Galway, previous winner of FameLab Galway and runner up of FameLab Ireland 2016.

The panel of judges include:

• Paul Fahy, Artistic Director of the Galway International Arts Festival
• Laura Rigney, Director of Brigit’s Garden
• Laoise McNamara, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Principal Investigator, NUI Galway
• Brenda Romero, Game designer, artist and Fulbright recipient, Romero Games

Entertainment during the interval will be provided by Ana Panigassi, winner of FameLab Galway 2017 and performer at Bright Club. Ana is an Obstetrician/Gynaecologist specialised in Maternal-Fetal Medicine and now a full time Science Communicator and her dog, Little Jerry Seinfeld, guarantees she is very funny. Her Show ‘Horrible Histories in Women's Health’ has some interesting little stories about how women's health inventions came about and the science behind it.  

To attend the FAMELAB Galway regional final please book your free ticket at https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/famelab-galway-2019-tickets-53541674590. You can also follow the Galway competition on twitter @FameLab_Galway.

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