The stage is set for science

Just 10 minutes – that’s how little time each participant has to present a topic of their choice to the audience at the science slam as vividly and informatively as possible. Aids are permitted – like the drawings this year’s winner Amelie Dransfeld created herself.

“Sometimes there simply isn’t any visual material, and then you have to get creative yourself to put your message across well,” says the 28-year-old. She works at Biologicals in the Business Unit Sugarbeet at KWS in Einbeck. What fascinates her about her work? “The interactions between plants, microbes and insects. It’s an extremely fast-growing and constantly changing field. For example, we often forget that there are more microbial cells in our body than human cells; the processes in plants are very similar,” she explains. The former are cells of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses or even fungi. Fittingly, Amelie’s presentation also revolved around nitrogen-fixing bacteria, the interaction between plants and bacteria.

Diversity across varieties and countries

The science slam is a new format for KWS. It is intended to promote diversity and innovation and was therefore a cross-over event covering all varieties, countries and departments. As an open-stage format, science slams are designed for anyone who wants to contribute a topic. The events are intended to provide an open stage, meaning that all contributions are individual and not centrally controlled.

Following an international appeal in April, employees at all locations around the world had the opportunity to submit a topic and outline how they would like to present it. The five final presentations covered a wide range of topics, from vertical farming, precision silage, artificial intelligence and insights into our unique identity, to a dive into the world of proteins. The slammers not only delivered their talks live at the Plaza – two of them were also connected via Teams. The audience could also participate either online or attend on site. And that wasn’t all, since the audience was also able to vote for the winner at the end – and that was Amelie Dransfeld.

“Providing insight”

“There are always new and exciting topics to discover, which is why the science slam format appealed to me so much,” says Amelie Dransfeld. She only recently joined KWS in Einbeck in February 2023, after completing her studies in plant biotechnology. She particularly likes the passion with which her colleagues go about their work: “There’s so much happening in my unit at the moment, so I was keen to provide others with a little insight into that at the science slam.”

To make her presentation even more vivid, Amelie Dransfeld made some illustrative drawings of the bacteria’s “work” beforehand: “This was the first time I had sketched processes myself, because that’s the beauty of the science slam: Anything that helps visualize topics better is allowed.”

Does she have a tip for colleagues who want to take part in the next science slam? “It’s a great experience – no topic has been fully explored and it’s worth looking around. Present what inspires you personally! If you do, more people will listen and also learn something new.” |