FameLab success!

Three weeks of judging and forty applicants later it was finally time for Oxford’s eight chosen FameLab finalists to take to the stage. Anticipation and excitement was high amongst the crowds of the Glee Club.

Each finalist was challenged to give a three minute talk on anything science. The judges could pick one winner who would be chosen based on their personality, delivery and communications of a scientific concept. The stakes are high with the winner receiving a place in the national FameLab finals to be held at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London.

Finalists had the audience in tears of laughter with their outstanding, high standard and educational talks. The judges definitely had a tough job ahead. You can check out all the talks by clicking on the applicants below:

 

Some serious discussion amongst the judges followed with a winner announced shortly afterwards. Rob Shalloo, a DPhil student in particle physics at Oxford University was presented the winning spot for his talk on how lakes can explode. His talk included a winning combo of balloon demonstrations, bumping beer bottles and even some advice on impressing the ladies.

Audience members were also given voting pads during the show allowing them to choose a ‘wildcard entry’ – one of the nations wildcard entries would later be judged separately for a chance to also join the finalists. Terence Eden, a computer scientist who works on Internet innovation for Telefonica, won with his talk on explaining how the Enigma.

Several of the FameLabbers have been documenting their experience. You can read all about Terence’s experience here. Stay tuned for further updates and tips for future FameLab hopefuls!