Winner in Luckenwalde: Hans Reimann, student teacher for mathematics and English
Research is exciting, versatile and useful. I want to bring my enthusiasm for it to the stage and show how relevant science is for dealing with the problems of our time. In my Master's thesis, I am looking at ideas, approaches and methods from mathematics to help better understand the mental health and happiness of students in order to provide them with targeted support in their everyday lives in the future. Being able to talk and discuss my topic outside the university is great. It's also about mutual understanding and common interests. A science slam also encourages people to consciously leave the "bubble" of their own subject and focus on the essentials. You have to ask yourself what the essence of your own idea actually is and whether it can be explained in an understandable and equally appealing way beyond your own discipline. A slam like this is of course a step out of your comfort zone, but after a brief moment of tension, you immerse yourself more and more in the presentation before you finally realize how quickly ten minutes have passed.
Slammer in Finsterwalde: Julian Stähle, Master's student of astrophysics
By taking part in the Science Slam, I wanted to improve my presentation skills for my studies and try to present my topic simply and correctly. My research is about Wolf-Rayet stars, extremely hot, luminous, huge stars. They have a destructively strong stellar wind that they emit into their surroundings and which ensures that new objects such as smaller stars, planets or comets can form. They can help us to learn something about our past, but also about the past of the universe and to better understand our existence. Teaching this to an interested but non-specialist audience in a fun yet sophisticated way and then answering questions is what makes the Science Slam so fascinating. The relaxed yet serious approach to scientific topics generally makes it easier to get enthusiastic about a subject area, to understand it or to pass it on.
Winner in Schwedt: Thoralf Dietrich, PhD student at the Institute of Geosciences
The special thing about the Brandenburg Science Slam is actually going to the place where my grandparents' generation lives: the "countryside", far away from the student bubble at the university. This gave me the opportunity to answer questions in person to people who might otherwise only have access to my topics via television or the internet. I deal with volcanoes and glaciers, especially their humming and roaring, called tremor. What exactly happens there? When and where does it happen? Knowing this could help provide early warning of a glacier flood or volcanic eruption. That's what my presentation was about.
What's fascinating about the Science Slam is that you can bring a lot of knowledge to an open-minded audience in a very short space of time. The people on stage manage to present their scientific work in small, tasty morsels. In doing so, they create the basis
basis for the audience to start asking questions and communicating with each other. A "What did you think of the presentation?" then becomes: "Did you understand the point, can you explain it to me quickly?" During the evaluation of the slams, complete strangers suddenly come together to vote on the presentations as euphoric swarms.
Winner in Neuruppin: Corvin Drößler, student teacher for geography and German
As I'm studying to be a teacher, I thought a science slam could be a good experience for my future career. After all, teaching is also about conveying specialist knowledge in an exciting way and getting the class involved. The fact that one of the slams was to take place in my home town of Neuruppin gave me additional motivation. My topic related to a term paper in which I dealt with the differences that still exist between East and West Germany and their causes. Developing a critical awareness of this is the first step towards overcoming inequalities and injustices within Germany. That's what my lecture was about. I think it's good that the Brandenburg Science Slam takes place in places that are not usually associated with research, for example in pubs. That way you leave your own filter bubble and the "academic ivory tower". Even in the outskirts of Brandenburg, science can be perceived as close to people in this way. This encourages exchange and may even break through existing reservations. The fact that research can also be understood without prior knowledge and not only within the research community is generally essential for the transfer of knowledge. Of course, the Science Slam is also entertaining. So you can be sure in advance of the event that you will have fun and learn something.
"The University of Potsdam was represented at the Brandenburg Science Slam by a total of eleven students and researchers. Anita Henze, Susanne Kohrs, Dr Hans-Georg Müller, Alina Weber, Tahmid Tusar, Sarah Leonhardt and Dr Peter Ulrich also contributed to bringing the world of science closer to a broad audience in Finsterwalde, Fürstenwalde, Luckenwalde, Neuruppin, Schwedt and Velten with interesting and entertaining presentations," reports co-organizer Josephine Stolte from Potsdam Transfer.
This article was published in the university magazine Portal Transfer 2024.