On Wednesday 30 June, CAAD - Centro per la Ricerca Traslazionale sulle Malattie Autoimmuni ed Allergiche (Centre for Translational Research on Autoimmune and Allergic Diseases) of the Università del Piemonte Orientale will host a science competition as the closing event of IRCAD Week. Given the continuing pandemic situation, this year a weekly and online format (instead of the usual in-person day) has been chosen for IRCAD's annual conference: every day, on the UPO YouTube channel, a video narrating "the roads to science" has been published from 21 June (https://youtu.be/txkkz25eY9E).

"There is a novelty that involves me directly - explains Professor Marta Ruspa, coordinator of the Commissione for Scientific Dissemination of the Department of Health Sciences - with my colleague and friend Professor Annalisa Chiocchetti, who is IRCAD President, we have transformed the traditional prize for the best scientific work of the IRCAD day into a Science Slam. It is not only an opportunity for young scientists to express themselves and for the public to learn while having fun, but also a way of underlining the importance of science being accessible and engaging".

The Science Slam is a science communication format based on a competition in which each contestant has 5 minutes to win over the judges and audience by talking about the scientific project they are working on. Slides and graphs are not allowed, but rather everyday objects, body language and/or a silent assistant, with the aim of achieving a clear and precise, but also engaging, captivating and accessible exposition to a general audience.

In the Novara edition of the Science Slam, organised by the Department of Health Sciences in collaboration with "Science on the Street", Institute for the promotion of science, Ljubljana, the participants will be 9 young researchers from the School of Medicine.

The challenge will be held live at 6 p.m. at CAAD (corso Trieste 15/A, Novara); a jury of experts will be present. The event will be streamed on the University's YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/DXTLoAsFm0M, and anyone can contribute to the ranking through a televoting system.

For more details about the line-up, the contestants and the jury, please visit the website of the Jožef Stefan Institute partner.