MPI-CBG/MPI-PKS: Stefan Golfier wins the FameLab Germany 2021

Eight candidates from all over Germany competed on April 22 in the final of the FameLab Germany 2021. The international science communication competition “FameLab – Talking Science” took place in Bielefeld, fully virtual via Livestream and organized by the Science Office of Bielefeld Marketing. The audience was not only able to watch, but viewers could also ask questions in a live chat as well as participating in the voting for the winner of the audience prize.

Stefan Golfier, a PhD student in the research lab of Jan Brugués from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) and the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems (MPI-PKS), won the regional Dresden competition in March 2021 and is now the winner in the finals of the German-wide competition. In his 3-minute presentation with the title “Our untangled genome” Stefan Golfier talked about his PhD work: how DNA loops spatially organize our genome and prevent it from getting entangled. Stefan said: “The Brugués lab and the MPI-CBG, in general, is such an inspiring environment with so many amazing people, that my enthusiasm for talking science was sparked early on! Already last year I wanted to participate in the FameLab competition, yet I was busy writing my thesis back then, so I was thrilled to get a new chance this year. It has been a really empowering and very fun experience to condense my PhD project in a short 3-minute talk and share my fascination for science with such a broad audience.” Now, Stefan will prepare for the FameLab international finals, where he will represent Germany at the Cheltenham Science Festival (UK) in November, together with the finalists from 25 participating countries.

FameLab is the world’s leading science communication competition in partnership with the British Council. Participants have three minutes to win over the judges and the crowd with a scientific talk that excels for its content, clarity and charisma. In 2021, FameLab Germany took place for the eleventh time, with the competition heats taking place in four cities across Germany: Karlsruhe, Bielefeld, Regensburg and Dresden.

Watch his presentation here:
https://youtu.be/UzGubnwai1o?t=3675

Further information on FameLab: https://www.britishcouncil.de/en/programmes/science/famelab