10 years of the MT180 competition: 3 UNamur candidates take part in the national final in Brussels

The Confluent des Savoirs, local organizers of the event, wanted to focus on one of the societal missions of research: popularized communication to a wide audience.

Annick Castiaux, Rector of UNamur, introduced the competition with the rediscovery of a sequence from the 1998 program Matière Grise, in which she presented, in two minutes, the objective of her research in optical physics. Encouraging young researchers to learn how to communicate in lay terms, Annick Castiaux stressed the need to adapt codified scientific discourse to reduce the distance between university research and other players in society. Presented by Aline Wilmet of Confluent des Savoirs, the event was an opportunity to explore the history of the competition at UNamur and to exchange experiences with former candidates.

This year, 12 candidates took part in this local final: Manel Barkallah (computer science), Louis Rassinfosse (physics), Charline Focant (biology), Guillaume Nguyen (computer science), Yves Blanco Alvarez (biology), Alexandra Decloux (veterinary medicine), Adélie Lannoy (biology), Loris Chavée (physics), Yasmine Akaichi (computer science), Valentin Job (physics), Antoine Hubermont (computer science) and Camille Morlinghem (geography).

Their performances were enthusiastically received by the audience: 280 people gathered in the Rosalind Franklin auditorium to discover the latest in interdisciplinary research and its societal challenges. In order to prepare them optimally for the demands of the competition and those of their thesis or lecture defense, candidates benefited from training in popularized communication, the construction of a structured pitch, as well as appropriate speaking and body language.

The candidates' pitches were evaluated by a jury of professionals in the field of scientific communication and popularization: Géraldine Tran, editor-in-chief of Athena, SPW's science mag; Nathan Uyttendaele, statistician and web popularizer via his YouTube channel "Chat Sceptique"; Charlotte Benedetti, director of Pavillon (KIKK asbl) in Namur and François-Xavier Fiévez, pedagogue, didactician and improviser, Vice-Rector for Student and Social Affairs at UNamur.

The regional competition is the first step in the MT180 adventure. The three winners from Namur will represent UNamur at the national final to be held on May 16 at the Solbosch campus in Brussels. The winner will represent Belgium this autumn at the international final in Abidjan (Ivory Coast).

On May 16, 2024, we'll be celebrating 10 years of the MT180 competition at the national finals to be held on ULB's Solbosch campus in Brussels. At this event, 15 PhD students, including the 3 UNamur prizewinners, will take up the challenge of popularizing their thesis topic with clarity to captivate an uninformed audience, in 3 minutes flat!

The jury will be made up of 6 personalities from French-speaking universities, the press and the world of popular science. The winner will represent Belgium at the international competition to be held in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, the week of November 18, 2024.