FameLab
FameLab is an international stand-up competition that has been searching for new talents in science communication since its inception in 2004. The competition was founded in the United Kingdom under the auspices of the Cheltenham Festivals and has since expanded to dozens of countries worldwide. In the Czech Republic, it has been held since 2011, currently under the license of Charles University. Contestants have only three minutes to present their research topic to the audience in an engaging and understandable way. The jury evaluates not only the scientific content and clarity of the presentation but also the contestant’s personal charisma.
The Czech Centres have long supported the competition and each year award one of the national finalists the Czech Centres Prize – a networking stay at one of the European Czech Centres, which allows the winners to establish international contacts and showcase Czech science abroad. Past laureates include, for example, Tereza Pavlíková, who, thanks to her presentation on microplastics, traveled to the European Mission Soil Week conference in Brussels, Filip Kubeček, a specialist in Czech studies, who presented Czech dialects and the speech of the younger generation at a university in Bucharest, and Anna Laštovičková, who presented her research on zeolites at an international conference in Rome.