Newcastle researcher wins North East Famelab 2014

A medical researcher from the University of Newcastle has won the North East regional finals of FameLab UK 2014, the competition to find the new voices in science, engineering, maths and technology.

Watched and critiqued by a panel of judges, Rachel Williams had just three minutes to detail her research in an entertaining and engaging way. A panel of judges including: Karen Marshall, Science City’s Education, Skills & Engagement Manager; Andy Lloyd, the Centre for Life’s special projects coordinator, and Sam Steventon, STEM Outreach Coordinator at Newcastle College, assessed contestants on content, clarity and charisma.

During the competition held at the Centre for Life researchers from across the North East covered topics such as the science of 3D, the cosmic difference between apples and oranges and how to train an origami pigeon.

Rachel wowed the judges with her use of props and imagery. As regional winner she wins a place on a communication master class and gets the chance to compete in the UK Grand Final, to be held at the Bloomsbury theatre on 23 April 2014.

The winner will receive £1000 for themselves and up to £750 to spend on a science communication activity, whether it’s attending a conference, further training or developing a public event or activity.

Rachel said: “It feels fantastic to have won the Newcastle FameLab heat! I’ve always enjoyed engaging with the public about science so I’m really excited about performing in front of a larger audience at the final in London. FameLab is a great opportunity to talk about your scientific interests in a unique format. It’s made me think about my research from a new perspective and enhanced my presentation skills.”

Runner-up Sam Ginja tackled psychology, discussing famous experiments such as Pavlov’s dogs and Skinners pigeons. Sam will compete against the other regional wild cards for a place at the final.

Past winners of FameLab have gone on to travel the globe, perform in festivals and feature on national TV and radio, and many combine public-facing activity with ongoing research. All finalists become part of a global network of science communicators.

Ian Simmons, Director of Science Communication at the Centre for Life commented: “FameLab is great because it encourages practicing scientists to explore and develop their communication and performance skills to make their research more accessible to everybody.”