Doha: For the fifth consecutive year, FameLab, one of the biggest science communication competitions in the world, took place in Qatar.
FameLab was initiated by Cheltenham Science Festivals in the UK, and brought to Qatar by the British Council in partnership with Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) — a member of Qatar Foundation (QF) — and supported by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
FameLab is a competition for scientific communication where the participants present scientifically proven ideas to a general public audience in just three minutes.
The judging is based on clarity, scientific content and performance on the stage. The participants in FameLab are divided into two categories: students, and adults (including teachers and researchers).
Nearly 300 participants took part in this year’s FameLab competition. All of them were trained to compete to reach the finals. Twenty-one participants who made it to the finals received an intensive Science Communication training delivered by experienced and qualified international science communicators from the United Kingdom.
The National Final was held online on July 6. More than 200 people watched the finals where the winners were announced at the end of the ceremony.
The first three places from the students’ category were won respectively by Ahmed Walid Rabiea from Doha Secondary school, who came first, Omar Mohammed from Al Zubara School came second, and third place went to Dalal Al Suwaidi from Al Bayan School.
From Adults’ category, Ahmed Al Maani from Qatar Science and Technology Secondary School won the first place and will represent Qatar at the international finals at Cheltenham Science Festival in the United Kingdom.
Abdul Saboor Saeed from Qatar University won second place in the finals.
Ahmed Al Maani, FameLab National winner for 2020 from Adults category, said, “The FameLab experience is one of the most beautiful experiences in my life, I got to know friends and learned new information, and most importantly, I gained an important lesson in life, which is that you have to persevere and try to reach your goal.
“I participated for three years in a row and finally succeeded and achieved my goal and became the National Qatar Finalist for 2019/2020. Thanks to FameLab.”
Students’ category National winner, Ahmed Walid said, “ My FameLab journey was a war. I fought with passion not weapons. Never though of being a FameLab winner; but my heart has been always beating with enthusiasm. I can now say that FameLab truly revealed my ardour.”