Lilla Asztalos, Ph.D. student of BME Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Material Science and Technology, won the Hungarian final of FameLab, science communication contest, having an opportunity to appear on the Cheltenham world final.
What made you apply to the contest? Did you have the topic first, and felt, that you can perform it confidently, or you were interested in science communication, like speaking about researches, and in the meantime, you had a great topic?
Lilla Asztalos: In general, I like speaking, it can be proven by anyone who knows me. Even if someone doesn’t know me, can prove that – but mostly I like speaking about topics making sense. My students also give feedbacks, that I transfer knowledge and know-how very well. Here, at BME Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, I teach Structure of Materials, and Technology of Metals laboratories, and Medtech lectures for biomechatronics students, and MSc mechanical engineers. I also participate in educating biomedical engineers, giving lectures about biocompatible materials.
Communication in the merge of fields like medicine and engineering, where I do research, is important. Not only, because there is a huge gap of knowledge regarding why an engineer should deal with implants, and why a woman should work in the engineering field. Also, because fake news and sensations are spreading, even in mainstream media. Some of them were even asked by my students, are they true at all. We, researchers, should start spreading our results. If we have a look at any medical portal, full of Latin words, are unintelligible for the average. Fake news sites operate with the most simple grammar and vocabulary, to reach even the uneducated.
Not only the fight against fake news, spreading our valid results, is also a challenge. If a popular news portal reviews a publication from the overseas, from Nature, or Science, sometimes, we just hold our head, that here, in BME Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, we have even more developed researches. We just don’t push the ’Send’ button to the media. Overall, research results are not being spread for domestic non-scientists, not only on a global scale. That’s a mistake.
Handling researchers like stars
With your application to the contest, did you try to do something against this gap?LA: I wanted to speak about how important the achievements of the 4th industrial revolution, for the Medtech field, which I spoke about in the semi-final and the final. I wanted to call for attention regarding this situation. Sometimes only the research is being highlighted. When articles appear on notable news sites, that it’s possible to make customized implants. But it’s impossible, that these can appear on the market. I do not suggest anyone laying back, and saying, now I can drink as much alcohol I can because I can have a 3D printed liver. Because I do research not only in additive technologies (3D printing), but at a Medtech company, I work in software quality management system, in cybersecurity, big data, and cloud computing issues. So I know, it’s useful to take care of high-tech.
On FameLab, you need to perform with two different speeches in the final and the semi-final. The international final is held in a British town, Cheltenham, at the Science Festival, where you also have two speeches. The audience is usually local, including many school classes – this event aims, that young people should meet science and researchers. The reason, why a finalist should prepare with two speeches because the as many faces of science should be shown as we can – repeating is disliked just as on tv. A lot of attitudes on science can be found at the event, which is another virtue. Visionary innovators, and researchers peeling off clickbait, are also included.
Interesting experience, that in Cheltenham, finalists are treated as stars. We have a separate backstage, using separate corridors, and the audience keeps asking about our topic. So if anyone can get to the international final, is a winner anyway.
What interesting is, that how other countries do that. In Thailand and Australia, national and international finals are being broadcasted live, although, that latter is at night at local time, bringing more people to watch them, then from Europe. In Egypt, FameLab is also well-known. Only to the semifinals, more than 7000 applied. In Hungary, it’s still not well-known at all, because we only joined 2 years ago, but the contest itself launched in 2005 and got spread, where the British Council was present. Today, there are national finals in approximately 30 countries.
Getting to know each other’s topic is an uplifting experience
You mentioned the communications course after national finals. Please, speak a bit about your experience.AL: It is an intensive course, at a certain weekend. The exact date is published before the semifinals, so if someone cannot take part in this, then they cannot even reach the national final. On Friday we got there, in the evening, it’s team building, and on Saturday and Sunday, we learnt various communication techniques. It’s far beyond, that how we should perform, but that how to speak with journalists, or behave in a television studio, how to prepare for an interview, even for tough questioning, how to behave calmly in such situations. The courses are held in English, and as a trainer, Quentin Cooper is coming this year as well. He is one of the most well-known science communication experts in the UK. He worked as a BBC science journalist, made interviews with Nobel-laureates, moderating panel discussions on science conferences. It’s a big honour, that you can learn from such an authority – it’s like when you can learn dynamics from professor Stépán (Gábor Stépán, Széchenyi-prize full professor of BME Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, former dean of our faculty – Ed.)
At the international final, it’s quite an uplifting experience, getting to know each other’s topic, to see, how far, young people like me, can get in their research. By the way, FameLab has a huge and cohesive community, and also the British Council supports us in our future career as science communicators. For instance, I had some requests for science promotion events, even on the international level. So, FameLab is a good launchpad, if someone wants to be a positive influencer.
What do you think, what’s the key in your success?
AL: Topic and routine. I’m quite a gritty character, and my appearance is also remarkable. I got used to giving speeches. The way how I performed, could also help, since it’s unusual, that someone, starting her lecture, picks up a pacemaker from her pocket, and, for comparison, picks up a toy shark from the other pocket. After all, only this attention should be maintained, which is a short time only, if you are a performer with a routine. Practicing is inevitable. Plus, sometimes it’s much easier to hold a one-and-a-half-hour long university lecture than summarise a scientific topic in three minutes.
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| Lilla Asztalos (R), Attila Molnár, director of British Council in Hungary(L) |
Do you plan to apply for other, science communication competitions?
AL: I’m not willing to take part in another FameLab, rather on the other side, to motivate young people towards science and science communication. I would be quite satisfied, if some thousand would apply to the semi-finals, like in Egypt. I keep in touch with the Hungarian FameLab alumni, and we are planning to have a bigger reach for this competition, with podcasts, lectures, science meetups. As there will be many more of us, easier it becomes. But it’s hard to have time for building the science promotion scene between my doctoral studies, private life, and lectures.
How would you summarise the competition in a few sentences?
AL: I enjoyed every single moment of taking part in FameLab. If I could experience the same again, I would push the restart button. It was a decisive point in my previous year. I would not replace it with anything else.
László Benesóczky
Photo credits:
Tamás Szigeti/MTA/bme.hu, att.bme.hu
On the second photo: Lilla Asztalos (R) Attila Molnár, director of British
Council in Hungary (L)
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