Leicester Physicist Competing in Famelab 2020

Leicester physicist takes part in the FameLab Northern Heat.

It’s hard to get much done in 3 minutes, and if you’ve ever tried to explain your research to a family member or a friend who aren’t in your field, you know how quickly people’s eyes can glaze over and how quickly people can lose interest. Fame Lab is an international competition run by Cheltenham Festivals and the British Council. The challenge is to present a concept to a general audience in no more than three minutes, using no slides, and only using props that you can personally carry on stage.

The competition is split into several regional heats, with the winner of each regional heat being invited to present at one of the Cheltenham Festivals, as well as training from science communicators. This year, I was lucky enough to take part in the northern heat.

What can real life medical imaging learn from Star Trek? What’s the chemistry behind your favourite pint? Can the colour of your phone screen affect your sleeping patterns? These are just some of the questions squeezed into the 3 minute window for presentations, which were judged by a panel of science communicators.

Taking part in the competition definitely gave me a unique perspective on how to communicate my research, the time limit doesn’t allow you to get into the minutiae of a topic, but you still have to present something that tells a coherent story that the audience can connect with, all while trying to educate, and I would highly recommend taking part to any other researcher. It forces you to cut out the fat, and try to get a message across as succinctly as possible, as well as providing an opportunity to practice public speaking. Are you up to the challenge?

FameLab is an annual competition hosted at local hubs around the country, with applications usually opening at the beginning of each year. 3 Minute Thesis is a similarly formatted competition held here at the university.

Follow Sam Frampton on twitter: @framptonspace