Top Master Nanoscience student wins Audience Award at FameLab NL

Can you explain a difficult scientific concept to a general audience in three minutes? Marcel Eleveld, student of the Top Master Nanoscience at the University of Groningen, can do it. He proved this at FameLab NL in Utrecht, where on May 9 he was awarded the Audience Award for his talk on Eigen’s Paradox.

FameLab is the world’s largest competition in scientific communication, with 31 participating countries. It is like “Idols” for scientists. The big question is: Who is the best at explaining a difficult concept in three minutes and keep the audience captive? The listeners voted for Marcel, who explained Eigen’s Paradox— - you need information to make a system for copying information, but how can you gather enough information to do that without such a system?— - and how it relates to the origin of life. His award? On January 2019 he may deliver a TEDTalk at TEDx in Alkmaar.

According to the jury, the first prize was for Jaïr Santanna from the University of Twente. He will represent the Netherlands at the international FameLab in England.