The preliminaries of the competition will be held in addition to Hamada at the Technion and the Science Museum in Jerusalem * The finals on May 23. Interview with Dr. Eitan Crane, one of the event's leaders since its inception
The news was first published on April 2 and moved again because this week the qualifiers take place.
The FaymLab International Science Communication Competition will take place during the month of May in Israel for the sixth time. Ahead of the event, which has already become a tradition, we spoke with the organizer of the competition in Israel, Dr. Eitan Crane, MD, the Center for Scientific Education in Tel Aviv.
What is PaymLab anyway? Is the competition some kind of scientific "star is born"?
Eitan: It is true that this is a competition that combines the ability to perform in front of an audience and a lot of fun, but the contents are serious and the goals are completely different. FayLab is designed to look for young scientists, with at least a bachelor's degree in science, engineering, medicine or mathematics, who want to share with the audience what they are doing. At the same time, we are interested in giving them better tools to do so, so those who advance to the finals receive a workshop in science communication.
This year we are holding the competition under the auspices of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the British Council, and of course in collaboration with the Technion and the Bloomfield Science Museum in Jerusalem, who hold the preliminary competitions.
How was the competition even born?
The competition was born in Great Britain, at the Cheltenham Science Festival. This is an amazing and cool science festival held every year in June in this cute town, two hours from London. Thousands of people come to her to hear lectures, participate in discussions and see demonstrations. The whole issue of science communication, i.e. creating a bridge between scientists and the public and the press, is very developed in the UK, so they are constantly looking for new ways to do this. PaymaLab is one such type of experiment that has succeeded beyond expectations.
Six years ago, the British Council decided to make the competition international and it started running in nine countries in Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean basin, including Israel. In fact, we in Israel have already held more competitions than in Britain, because there, for economic reasons, there were several years when the competition did not take place.
Two years ago, the competition expanded to other countries in the world, such as Germany, Hong Kong and New Zealand. In Israel, the British Council transferred the management of the competition to Hamada, which was the main partner in organizing the competition even in its first years, and this year we are happy to share this with the Ministry of Science as well.
What should be done to win the competition?
The full name of the competition in Israel is: FeyLab - Science in three minutes! That basically says it all. You have to stand in front of the audience, and almost without any aids, and certainly without a PowerPoint presentation, you have to excite the viewers on a scientific topic. When we started, TED didn't exist yet, so today it's clearer: you have to give a talk like in TED, in three minutes and without a presentation.
Each participant who reaches the finals actually has to lecture three times, and present three different lectures: one in the stage tests, in front of a panel of judges, then that evening in front of the judges and an audience, then in the finals in front of other judges and a larger audience. In the final, you should also talk about the personal research that the researcher is conducting, or about a related topic. In this respect, it is really reminiscent of a star is born, among the judges there are people of science, high-tech and stage or press people and they are allowed to ask questions.
And what are the criteria for winning?
The British define it as 3C - three words starting with the letter C - Content, Clarity, Charisma. Content - the information and science must be accurate and correct, clarity - it is important that the audience understands the lecture and charisma - that spark that will also "turn on" the audience.
Do the participants get tools to help them?
The finalists receive a two-day expert workshop in Tel Aviv. On the first day, they meet the British expert on science communication, Malcolm Love, who has a lot of experience in the field, and on the second day, Uri Weil, who also has a lot of experience in science communication and theater, will conduct the workshop. This is a very handsome prize in our opinion.
And who has won in Israel so far?
We must be special! Israel has a special place in the competition that cannot be ignored even though it has nothing to do with science (although it could be a subject for research): in all the previous five years female scientists won first place - never a male scientist. Already last year, the entire international team was anxiously waiting for the results...
The first year was won by Michal Dekel, who talked about virgin reproduction of female mice in the laboratory and put a little pressure on the men in the audience. Adi Yaniv told about hormones that turn monogamous lovers into butterflies and vice versa, and perhaps stressed the women. In the third year, Shani Wiedergorn enthralled the listeners with fascinating stories about brain and memory research and explained why we forget faces. The fourth winner, Roni Atidia, explained the Red Queen effect in evolution using the book Alice in Wonderland brilliantly, and last year Keren Lavi gave an unforgettable lecture on erasing memories and also excited the audience abroad and won second place in the international competition.
So there is also an international final?
Indeed yes, the winner from each country goes to the science festival in Cheltenham - this is the first prize - and participates in the world competition there. The atmosphere before the competition is amazing. Two years ago, for example, I joined the winner and we left immediately after the incident of the interception of the activists' ship to Gaza, when the British media was very aggressive against Israel. Representatives from Morocco, Egypt and Libya also participated in the competition that year, so we were quite worried. But all fears were dispelled - a friendship was formed with all the participants, especially with the Egyptians (they also sent the second place winner). After a year, we received photos of one of them in Tahrir Square.
And what does it do to the participants?
It obviously depends on the personality, but some of the participants were really drawn to the topic of science communication and according to them it was an experience that changed their lives - for the better. Some of them even founded a group, "Science on the edge of the fork" that gives scientific lectures all over the country. Besides, over the years the British Council, Hamada, the Science Museum in Jerusalem and other bodies have invited the prominent participants to various events in Israel and around the world - the trip to Britain was certainly not the last for some of them.
Who is allowed to participate and how do you register?
Anyone who has at least a bachelor's degree in science, engineering, mathematics and medicine and is engaged in the field may register - all one needs to do is fill out an online form on the website Hamda'a - prepare two lectures, for the stage test and the semi-finals and come.
The qualifiers in the North will be held at the Technion on May 1, 2012, at the Hamada center in Tel Aviv on May 2, in Jerusalem, at the Bloomfield Science Museum on May 6 and the expert workshop will be held on May 15-16, 2012. The final will be held on May 23, 2012
For any questions, you can contact Hamada, Dr. Eitan Krein krein@hemda.org.il or Dr. Osherit Yakne ikne@hemda.org.il
