EU-LIFE rocks out science in its 12th community meeting
This year’s EU-LIFE community meeting was hosted by our member institute CEITEC in Brno, Czech Republic, on 21-23 May 2025. This was a very special event for us, as we held the first EU-LIFE Science Vision Talk Contest!
To kick-off the meeting, Pavel Tomančák and Pavel Plevka, Directors of CEITEC, welcomed all to Brno with a powerful message: “United by values, connected by science: bridging east and west for a competitive Europe” and presented the latest achievements of CEITEC. Then Giulio Superti-Furga, Chair of EU-LIFE and Director of CeMM, announced the programme of the event and took the opportunity to give a warm welcome to the two new EU-LIFE members, The Francis Crick Institute (UK) and the Ruđer Bošković Institute (Croatia). The plenary session was closed by Marta Agostinho, EU-LIFE Executive Director, who gave an update of EU-LIFE’s activities and policy work.
All EU-LIFE working groups met separately to catch-up, plan next year’s activities, and in some cases even to get specialist training on specific topics. On the other hand, the strategy group, formed by the EU-LIFE board of directors, main representatives and executive director, got together to align strategies and consolidate plans for the future.
Of course, there was also time for scientific fun! This year we held the first EU-LIFE Science Vision Talk Contest, aimed at bringing together scientists for a bold and engaging science communication competition. 18 researchers representing 15 EU-LIFE institutes presented their research in a 4-minute performance in different creative formats that included rapping, dancing, dramatising and other innovative communication techniques.
The contest was streamed simultaneously to all EU-LIFE institutes across Europe, allowing colleagues and supporters to watch and cheer. The event was closed with an award ceremony where the most voted-for participants were announced. The most popular talks were awarded to:
- 🥇 In the 1st place, Eleonore Ocaña from The Babraham Institute, UK, with her powerful rap performance Shining a Light on Optogenetics ft. Rapper Rhodopsin
- 🥈 In the 2nd place, Mafalda Araújo Pereira from BRIC, Denmark, with her scientific take on Shakespearean tragedy The Hidden Hand of KDM5C: A Tale of Blood and Fate
- 🥉 In the 3rd place, Brianda Santini and Carolina Mangana Monteiro from CeMM, Austria, with their magical tale Inter_Acting
Congratulations to all the contestants and followers! And our sincerest thanks to all CEITEC’s members of staff for being the most welcoming hosts!
