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Science brought to life: BMC scientists entertain at Science Slam
19 Feb 2025
At the Science Slam "Riddles of Reproduction", our PhD candidates Tobias Schmidt and Jie Hua inspired the audience with exciting science.
© H.Klinker / LMU
Last Thursday, February 13, 2025, a science slam entitled “Riddles of Reproduction” took place at the Museum Mensch und Natur in Nymphenburg Palace. The fully booked event was part of the CAS focus on “Speciation” and was organized in collaboration with the museum.
At the Science Slam, scientists presented their research on unsolved questions of reproduction in a compelling and entertaining way. Each presentation lasted ten minutes, with all aids such as PowerPoint presentations, props and live experiments freely available. At the end, the audience voted for the best presentation.
The event helped to resolve a paradox that had existed for more than 150 years and that had already puzzled Charles Darwin: why does natural selection tolerate the development of traits like sterility and infertility? This "riddle of riddles" remains one of the most important unanswered questions in biological research.
The participation of our two PhD candidates Tobias Schmidt (Stricker Lab) and Jie Hua (Imhof Lab) was particularly exciting:
I wanted to boost my confidence for presentations and learn how to communicate research in an understandable and exciting way. Science communication is more important than ever, and a Science Slam is the perfect opportunity to gain hands-on experience. And of course it was fun! It was a great experience, especially with the audience's enthusiastic reactions. The mixture of exciting presentations and a great atmosphere made the evening really special.Tobias Schmidt (Stricker Lab), PhD candidate
I chose this format because it is an entertaining way to communicate science to a broad audience. The combination of storytelling, humour and science makes complex topics more accessible. The experience was both challenging and exciting. It was the first time for me to share my research to a public audience. However, the audience was very supportive and gave me positive feedback. That was very encouraging!Jie Hua (Imhof Lab), PhD candidate
