The new face of Science

And the winner of  the FameLab 2008 competition is ...

... 32-year old DI Bernhard Weingartner from Innsbruck, research assistant at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna). He impressed both audience and expert jury with an entertaining presentation about chaotic and regulated behaviour in complex systems.

He chose catchy examples of glow worms adjusting their blinking rhythms in order to attract females to illustrate how order derives from chaos. The presenation culminated in the audience proving his point when the applause also started to evolve into a synchronised rhythm.

Weingartner wants to 'reduce people's awe of complex problems'. At the TU Vienna's Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer he currently uses computer simulations in his research to examine the behaviour of sand dunes and chaotic fluid streams. At the audition he used his son's string bass to illustrate underlying principles in an unconventional way.

Dr. Gertrude Brinek, Member of Parliament and Spokeswoman for Science and Research presented the prize and congratulated the winner. Weingartner will represent Austria at FameLab International at the Cheltenham Science Festival, 4 - 8 June 2008 in England, along with the other 8 South East Europe winners.

More Prizes

2nd jury prize
Dr. Jolanta Siller-Matula, Senior House Officer for Internal Medicine at the Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University Vienna. Using a string of pearls she demonstrated vividly how so-called immortality enzyms function.

3rd jury prize
Dr. Georg Steinhauser, Vienna University of Technology. He explained eloquently how the chemical composition of pumice stone can help clarify cultural history.

Ö1 audio prize
Dr. Jolanta Siller-Matula

During the Masterclass weekend the finalists recorded a 99-second-long audio file on one of the following three topics:

• Was ist Unendlichkeit? (What is infinity?)
• Warum haben wir ein Ich? (Why do we have a conciousness of self?)
• Was können wir wissen? (What can we know?)

The judges from the auditions and final voted for the best audio file. Visit the ORF's Science Channel and listen to the recordings.

Audience prize
Dr. Georg Steinhauser

While the jury had a really hard time deciding on the winners, the audience elected their own favourite finalist by applause. Find out more about all 10 finalists.

The judges

Univ. Prof. Dr. Christoph Kratky - President, FWF –  Austrian Science Fund
DI Dr. Ludovit Garzik - Managing Director, RFTE - Austrian Council for Research and Technology Development
Dr. Martin Bernhofer - Science journalist and Head of Science, Education and Society department, ORF radio, science.ORF.at
Dr. Gabriele Zuna-Kratky - Director, Technical Museum Vienna, Member of the Austrian Council for Research and Technology
Mag. Günther Mayr - Science editor and Programme Director, ORF
Dr. Christian Müller - Chief science editor, APA

Carolina Inama (ORF) and Robert Krickl (FameLab 2007 winner) co-presented the programme.

While the expert jury withdrew to discuss the performances, Prof. Dr. Rudolf Taschner of mathspace entertained the audience with insights into the 'Beauty of Science'.