An ode to the ear
An ode to the ear
An ode to the ear
Florian Denk wins the 9th Oldenburg Science Slam
Oldenburg. Ten minutes, scientific content and plenty of fun: those were the rules at the 9th Oldenburg Science Slam. Five early-career researchers competed this year in the sold-out Exerzierhalle. At the end of the evening, the audience crowned Florian Denk, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Medical Physics and Acoustics at the University of Oldenburg, as the winner. He won the ‘Golden Brain’ and prize money of 150 euros, donated by the University of Oldenburg’s Graduate Academy.
‘Unusual shapes, great acoustics – An ode to the ear’ was the title of Denk’s slam. The doctoral candidate explained why the shape of the human ear plays a key role in ensuring it functions so well. The 150 guests voted on the presentations by means of varying levels of applause, which was recorded by the ‘Slam-o-Meter’. Outside the competition, political scientist Prof. Dr Torsten J. Selck delivered the evening’s first slam with ‘The EU, Brexit and Me’, much to the delight of the audience.
Like Selck and Denk, the other slammers also brought the atmosphere in the Exerzierhalle to a boil, in the truest sense of the word. Alongside linguist Dr François Conrad from Leibniz University Hannover, three other doctoral candidates from Oldenburg took part. Whilst the Luxembourg-born scholar explained why German sounds so difficult to non-native speakers, Nina Gmeiner (Department of Economics and Law) gave a slam about seeds as a common good and what Filipino rice farmers have to do with scientific findings. Rosanna Schöneich-Argent (Institute of Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment) demonstrated the influence of the cold east wind on the direction of the North Sea currents using a hairdryer and a teacup. Things took a slightly eerie turn in the Hall of Mirrors with a presentation on alienation in service-oriented chain restaurants, staged by Jonathan Gilbert (Department of Economics and Law). The early-career researchers took second to fifth place and were rewarded with subscriptions to specialist journals.
‘PowerPoint Karaoke’ was once again on the programme. In this event, two professors present each other’s lectures – without any preparation or knowledge of the topic. This year, neurologist Prof. Dr Karsten Witt and historian Prof. Dr Almut Höfert stepped into the spotlight. Their improvisational skills were met with thunderous applause.
The event was organised by the Research Centre Neurosensory Science, the Graduate Academy and the Graduate Schools for Social Sciences and Humanities (3GO) and for Natural Sciences, Medicine and Technology (OLTECH) at the University of Oldenburg. The Oldenburg State Theatre was a collaborating partner.