Forget the poetry slam – long live the science slam!

Poetry Slam has been celebrated in society for years as THE new form of entertainment in major German cities. If you haven't been to a poetry slam yourself, you at least know someone who likes to listen to more or less professional authors presenting their texts.

The little and somewhat unknown brother “Science Slam” is known to fewer people. Reason enough for us to clear the whole thing up.

Who or what is a science slam?

At a science slam, students and young scientists compete against each other and present their research results and projects to their audience in an entertaining way.

The winners are usually those who manage to convey their work in a humorous, but always clear, way . The trick is to convey a complex topic in an exciting way in just 10 minutes and to also inspire people who have never heard of it and are, so to speak, unfamiliar with the subject. For example, have you ever looked into the evolution of female dominance in spotted hyenas? This was also a topic at one of the Science Slams last year.

Unlike the poetry slam, the slammers are allowed to use props. A science slam is often accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation or live experiments. At the end, the audience decides with their applause who goes home as the winner.

By the way, you don't have to have written a doctoral thesis to be on stage at a science slam. You can also present research results that you have developed from a thesis , an experiment or a lecture. If you are interested in being on stage at a science slam or are looking for upcoming events, you can find out more at Scienceslam.net orScienceslam.de .

Dates for upcoming Science Slams in Germany for 2015:

January 5th in Berlin

SO36

January 13th in Rostock

MAU Club

January 21st Bremen

Bremen Warehouse Cultural Center

January 22nd in Hanover

At Chez Heinz

January 24th Lübeck

Filmhaus Lübeck

January 28th Berlin

Lido

February 2nd Berlin

SO36

February 3rd Ulm

ROXY Ulm

February 13th Potsdam

Washhouse

February 18th Hamburg

Nasty & Dangerous

February 27th Marburg

Hessian State Theater Marburg

May 12th Ulm

ROXY Ulm

October 13th Ulm

ROXY Ulm

December 15th Ulm

ROXY Ulm

If you want a foretaste, we recommend the following video. The computer scientist Johannes Kretzschmar examined the complexity of clothing issues and thus addressed the question:

“What do I wear – and why?”

Have fun!

Photo credit: WikiImages @pixabay.com

Would you like to spend an evening learning about the love lives of stressed fish in salt water or about historical pornography? Go to the Science Slam, where highly intelligent entertainment awaits you until your laughing muscles clench!