University Science Slam Popularises and Promotes Science
Science Slams are a popular format in Central Europe for promoting scientific achievements and research subjects. In a Science Slam, researchers present their research topics as engagingly and understandably as they can within a ten-minute time limit. The University of Turku’s own Science Slam was held on 13–14 April.
Veera Viitanen had no problems engaging the audience.
Fourteen young researchers, representing nine different doctoral programmes, presented their upcoming doctoral dissertation topics in the University of Turku’s Science Slam.
The contents of the presentations varied from languages and translation all the way to clinical research. The audience voted for a winner on both days.
On the first day, the winner was Veera Viitanen, a doctoral candidate from the Faculty of Social Sciences whose presentation on homelessness immediately engaged the audience.
Hanna Mikola talked about the treatment and prevention of heart diseases.
Viitanen began her presentation with a short comic strip that declared that sociology had invented an invisibility cloak before physics. At the end of the comic strip, the “cloak” is revealed to be a homeless person’s cardboard sign.
After captivating the audience, Viitanen talked about homelessness and our attitudes to homelessness on a general level. According to Viitanen, 300 Finns sleep in the street. Things could be worse – in Poland, the same figure is 4000.
According to Viitanen, we respond to homelessness in primarily three ways. The first way is to close our eyes to the homeless and homelessness.
Mika Hämäläinen, who is researching the philosophy of sport, attempted the Finnish weightlifting record.
The second way is to outlaw homelessness. For example, in Hungary the law forbids sleeping in the street, even though 3000 Hungarians do not have any other option.
The third and most positive way of dealing with the problem is attempting to find solutions. Viitanen questioned whether there is enough affordable housing available and whether society is supporting individuals enough with the problems in their lives.
At the end of her presentation, Viitanen reminded the audience that, despite common belief, homelessness is most often a temporary situation. According to Viitanen, even Halle Berry and Sylvester Stallone were briefly homeless before their careers took off.
The winner of the second day was Susanna Agge with her presentation on the legislation on forced sterilisation.
The next local Science Slam will be held on Thursday, 7 May, 7.00 PM at Panimoravintola Koulu. The May Science Slam is a part of the Science Days in Turku event that will be held during the same week.
>>Science Slam
>>The Science Days in Turku
Text: Henri Kanervo
Pictures: Henri Kanervo and Hanna Oksanen
Translation: Sam Parwar