14 November 2024

Science with a Wow Factor: The First Science Slam of Munich's Excellence Clusters

Make way for science! On October 17 at Bahnwärter Thiel, the four Munich Excellence Clusters e-conversion, MCQST, ORIGINS, and SyNergy teamed up to host their first-ever science slam with great success. Over 300 guests followed the event's motto, "Expect the Unexpected," and flocked to the iconic location in the Schlachthofviertel. There, the young researchers slammed with raw eggs, balloons and mixers, pizzapasta (or was it pastapizza?), radioactive bananas, tennis balls, tangled headphones, water bottles and croissants, and above all with a lot of heart and wit. It demonstrated once again: science is fun and can be entertainingly brought to the stage.

Behind the scenes, the Science Slammers prepared specifically for the event: the researchers had the chance to take part in a two-day workshop beforehand and

learn how to present their research in an exciting and understandable way. At the end of the workshop, a jury selected the finalists who would compete at the Science Slam event.

On stage at Bahnwärter Thiel, the six Science Slammers captivated the audience with their talent to distill complex research topics into engaging presentations that sparked laughter and amazement. The order of the performances was decided by drawing lots. The opening made Yusuf Qutbuddin from the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry, who prefers his breakfast eggs mixed rather than fried – or any other commonly used cooking method. Then, Josefine Krause from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) shed light on her difficulty in making decisions in front of menus with too many choices, and Christoph Vogl from TUM glowed radioactively in his hunt for rare decays. After a break, the show continued with Khushboo from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, who could find exoplanets more easily than an apartment in Munich, and Taisiia Nazarenko from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, who spoke about Alzheimer's and promptly forgot where she had kept her props. The crowning finale gave Lukas Schleicher from TUM, who showed a silicone wafer wearing blue gloves and played nano-drums on croissant crumbs. At the end, the audience applauded (the decibel meter at Bahnwärter Thiel jumped to volumes of over 100 dB) to choose the evening winner: Taisiia Nazarenko. Congratulations!

The event showed once again that science is exciting and a true entertainment experience! A treat for those with time to spare: the first Science Slam of the Munich Clusters of Excellence transitioned straight into a rave party. A big thank goes to Bahnwärter Thiel for this fantastic opportunity!

Watch below the slams of the two MCQST researchers, or follow all videos on Youtube.