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Liza Cornet wins national final of Famelab

Neurospyschologist Liza Cornet is the winner of the national final of Famelab. Famelab is an international science communication competition for young researchers. The aim of Famelab is to explain your research as clearly as possible in a maximum of five minutes. No PowerPoint or video and with just two objects to support your pitch. .

Liza Cornet's research - and her winning presentation - is on virtual reality techniques for getting people to learn about 'their future selves'. Research has shown that people who have a clearer image of themselves in the future tend to make more responsible life choices in the here and now. 

Liza Cornet's winning presentation

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‘Science communicator of the future'

The video presentations submitted were assessed by the jury who awarded points on the three Famelab criteria: content, clarity and charisma. But the jury had difficulty deciding a winner based on just these three aspects. They therefore decided to focus on another of Famelab's aims: finding the 'science communicator of the future'. Who did the jury have most confidence would - over the course of a full scientific career - be best able to involve the general public in his or her research? The jury felt that Cornet was the clear winner on this criterion. 

Cornet was delighted to be announcecd the winner. 'It felt like an enormous boost to my confidence. I definitely intend to carry on with science communication because it's one of my greatest passions, beside my own research, of course.' 

International final

Given the circumstances, the Famelab competition this year was completely online, with candidates making video pitches. This was also how the Leiden preliminary round was held earlier this year. The next step is the international final of Famelab this autumn. As the national winner, Cornet will represent the Netherlands. The international final normally takes place at the Cheltenham Science festival, but this year it will be completely online. 

More information on attending the (online) international Famelab final will follow shortly. 

Liza Cornet was not the only Leiden scientist in the national final: Fabiola Diana was also a contestant. She obtained her PhD in the department of Cognitive Psychology based on emotion and interaction. 

Watch Fabiola Diana's video pitch

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