Science Slam 2015
What is a Science Slam?
A Science Slam is a short-presentation competition in which scientists, researchers or students present a topic from their field in a way that is easy to understand and entertaining for the audience. As well as expanding knowledge, the focus is clearly on having fun.
The Science Slam is modelled on the Poetry Slam. In a Poetry Slam, poets or lyricists perform their work to a wide audience. The Science Slam provided a platform for 8 different fields in 6 minutes.
Our slammers were:
- Andy Sauerwein, German Studies and History
- Doris Aschenbrenner, Robotics
- Dr Gunther Schunk, Linguistics
- Dr Konrad Förstner, Molecular Biology
- Stefan Peters, Sports Science
- Prof. Klaus Brehm, Hygiene
- Prof. Peter Pospiech, Dentistry
- We welcome our new slammer: Prof. Bernd Ankenbrand!
This event was organised in partnership between the City of Würzburg and the Alumni Office in aid of the Germany Scholarship.
Success through long, convoluted sentences
A grand entrance, thunderous applause: a microbiologist has won the Science Slam at the Mainfranken Fair.
It was, of all things, his convoluted sentences that convinced the audience of his rhetorical skills: Professor Klaus Brehm from the Institute of Hygiene and Microbiology won the Science Slam at the Mainfranken Fair in Würzburg on Friday, 2 October 2015. The aim was to present science in an entertaining way in a short talk.
Run-on sentences: in this case, this does not refer to a style of speaking that squeezes as many subordinate clauses and asides as possible between two main clauses – which would demand a great deal from a listener in terms of concentration. No, Brehm unleashed sentences about the parasite, which can also be found in the human body. A topic that has been ‘bugging’ him for years.
The tapeworm expert from the University of Würzburg did not shy away from puns or taboos regarding the parasite’s sex life. This mix earned him the loudest applause and thus the victory and a flat-screen TV, donated by the City of Würzburg.
Confident scientists presented
500 guests in the sold-out Hall 1 listened to Science Slam presentations on the human genome, back pain and planned obsolescence. The joint event organised by the University’s Alumni Office in collaboration with the City and the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (FHWS) featured on the FHWS stage confident scientists who were ready to present their specialist fields in a way accessible to the general public.
Eight talks, eight different styles, each lasting just six minutes. Johannes Keppner from Radio Gong, a university alumnus, hosted the evening. He was the only speaker who wasn’t growled at or barked at for going over time. For the official timekeeper, chosen by the audience, had to possess animal-like qualities: This, too, is certainly a slight difference from everyday university lectures.
What the slammers spoke about
In the lecture theatre, the Klingon language (Gunther Schunk) or instructions for robots to take over the world (Doris Aschenbrenner) are unlikely to be topics of discussion. Professor Peter Pospiech had crafted his introduction to the topic of ceramics as dental prostheses entirely in verse.
For sports scientist Stefan Peters, economist Professor Bernd Ankenbrand and biologist Konrad Förstner, such a restrained style of presentation would certainly be unthinkable. They made full use of the stage and their gestures were expansive.
For the cabaret artist Andy Sauerwein, the stage is his usual workplace anyway; he might well have become nervous in an empty lecture theatre. His timing was perfect, whilst others had to really step on the gas at the end in their race against the clock.
At the end, the audience thanked the slammers repeatedly with scores of over 100 decibels on the applause meter – for a wealth of information, useless facts and witty turns of phrase. Did you know, for example, that you can saw a tapeworm into up to 150 pieces and that each one then has a chance of survival? Brehm’s comment on this: “Try that with your wire-haired dachshund at home.”
Proceeds for a Germany Scholarship
The proceeds from the evening covered the full cost of a Germany Scholarship. With such scholarships, the University of Würzburg supports students who demonstrate excellent academic performance and are also socially engaged. Recipients receive 300 euros per month for one year to spend as they wish.
Next Science Slam to follow in 2016
Due to the event’s great success, Michaela Thiel and her team from the Alumni Office are already planning ahead for 2016: Another Science Slam is scheduled to take place then. Interested slammers can get in touch now: alumni(at)uni-wuerzburg.de
(With material from a press release by the City of Würzburg)
From: Press and Public Relations
