Famelab is an international pitch competition for young scientists. Participants get three minutes to explain their research to a lay audience, on a stage and without any slides. Usually the competition takes place in a theatre setting in front of a live audience; however, because of the corona crisis, this year things have been a bit different.

The live version of the local Amsterdam heat, which was supposed to take place on 17 March, had to be cancelled. Instead all participants were offered the option to send in a videotaped version of their pitch, and were given some extra time to prepare this. On 22 April the jury, after having viewed and judges al the pitches, met online and chose the two winning pitches.

This year’s winners are  Valeria Guglielmi, MD, PhD student at the Department of Neuroscience of the Amsterdam UMC; and Maria Alejandra Murcia Valderrama, MSc, PhD student at the University of Amsterdam’s Van ‘t Hoff institute for Molecular Sciences. They have won a place in the national Dutch Famelab final, as well as a special training in science communication provided by the Royal Dutch Institute for Arts and Sciences (KNAW).

Watch their winning pitches:

Famelab 2020 Amsterdam Heat winner Valeria Guglielmi. 

Famelab 2020 Amsterdam Heat winner Maria Alejandra Murcia Valderrama