The phrase “Nobel Prize” usually evokes a sense of prestige and gravitas. There is no doubt that these prizes are bestowed upon individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the human race. However, sometimes what exactly the prize-winners invention or contribution was can be a little beyond the grasp of your average citizen.
Enter the “NoBell Prize”.
Hosted each year by the Melbourne Neuroscience Institute, this fantastic event is a funny scicomm-athon open to the general public, where brain and mind researchers attempt to explain their research without jargon in three minutes. Should they utter a sceric of technical jargon, the judging panel ring a bell and the researcher must satisfactorily explain the concept in lay terms before moving on. At the end of the night, the number of bell rings is tallied up and the researcher with the least bells is crowned victorious with a ‘prestigous’ faux-gold cup. This year pitted 5 fantastic researchers against the bell:
- Dr David Farmer – Research Fellow, Autonomic Neuroscience Laboratory, The Florey Institute
- Dr Holly Chinnery – Corneal and Ocular Immunology Unit Lab Director
- A/Prof Carsten Murawski – Principal Investigator, Brain Mind and Markets Laboratory
- Prof Erica Fletcher – Visual Neuroscience Laboratory Head
- Dr Scott Kolbe – Advanced Neuroimaging Laboratory Head
While at face value this may seem like a frivolous take on a serious and distinguished event, in the age of fake news and dismissed scientific evidence the importance of events like these cannot be understated. It was articulated best by the host of the evening,
In fact, as
Even with the serious (and important) aspects, all around the NoBell Prize was a fantastic evening with lots of laughs and an equal helping of learning – even for me! If you have the chance, I highly recommend checking out the NoBell Prize in 2019. Maybe you could even go up against the bells yourself!
