Martin Haamer and Hanna Britt Soots among winners of “Science in 3 Minutes” competition

Martin Haamer, Junior Research Fellow in Transport Studies, and Hanna Britt Soots, Junior Research Fellow in Mathematics of the University of Tartu, were among the top five in the finals of the competition “Science in 3 Minutes” organised by the Estonian Academy of Sciences on Friday, 2 February.

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In his research, Martin explores how to make public transport as convenient as possible for as many people as possible using big data and modelling. At the final competition, he made the presentation “Does taking the bus have to be slow?”

According to Tarmo Soomere, President of the Academy of Sciences, the jury was impressed by Martin’s excellent presentation, the maps he showed and the clarity with which he addressed his task. “He established a good trusting atmosphere, was a pleasure to listen to, and managed to capture the audience – and probably also the jury’s feelings,” Soomere said.

Hanna Britt studies the interrelationships of fractional differential equations. Her research focuses on the question of how mathematics can be applied in other fields of research. At the final competition, she gave the talk “Mathematics helps us understand the world better”.

The jury found that Hanna Britt’s presentation had an excellent explanation at the beginning, nice graphics, and a compelling ending and that the presentation was also enjoyable and engaging. “She managed to avoid the equations while making it clear what are the real-world applications of her work and why it is needed,” Soomere added. 

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The five winners will have the opportunity to participate in the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) in Katowice this summer. ESOF is a biennial festival, conference and fair for interdisciplinary debate on the connections between science, innovation and society.

The “Science in 3 Minutes” competition jury included Tarmo Soomere, member of the Riigikogu Kadri Tali, director and actor Karl Laumets, journalist Urmas Jaagant, school director Pille Kaisel, entrepreneur Hannes Tamjärv, and the CEO of Eesti Energia, Andrus Durejko.

All in all, 16 young researchers from six universities or research institutions made it to the finals. Besides Martin and Hanna Britt, four more doctoral students from the University of Tartu took part: Kristiina Kurg, Junior Research Fellow in Technology; Laura Mauring, Junior Research Fellow in Ophthalmology; Tairi Leis, doctoral student in Economics, and Madis Jürviste, doctoral student in Linguistics. The competitors had to discuss their years-long research articulately and clearly in just three minutes. Before the final competition, the finalists underwent a presentation and writing skills training and published a popular science article on the science news portal Novaator.

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