The title of the Český VŠEVĚD remains in Ostrava; this time, it was won by Oldřich Motyka from VSB – Technical University of Ostrava with his flower H

Plants and the secrets they hide and cannot tell us were the subject of his stand-up performance. The second place went to Simon Klinga from Education42morow, a sixteen-year-old secondary school student from Brno, and the third place went to Kristýna Schuchová from the Institute of Geonics of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

The second year of the popularisation competition Český VŠEVĚD brought a cocktail of science, stand-up, and slam poetry. A variety of popularisation themes ran throughout the final evening. Although all the scientists were well prepared, the title of the Český VŠEVĚD belongs to only one of the six finalists.

“The competitors appreciated the training, where they learned how to start their performance, at what stage to come up with a joke or when it is time to build up the story. But it was incredible how all the finalists supported, helped, and advised each other throughout the training. There was no sense of rivalry the whole time,” said Jitřenka Navrátilová, the National Coordinator of the Night of Scientists manager, evaluating the contestants’ atmosphere.

This is also confirmed by the winner of this year’s final of the Český VŠEVĚD competition Oldřich Motyka: “The whole process and organisation around the competition was absolutely amazing and I would like to point out that I could not have been in the final with five better people”. The scientist from VSB – Technical University of Ostrava did not hide his joy at the victory. “I really appreciate it. I am glad that I won, but everyone deserved it. Actually, my victory is a bit unfair because I forgot the text,” admits Oldřich Motyka. However, the audience still rated his performance as the best.

The Český VŠEVĚD competition will remain in Ostrava, where the next final battle will take place, this time at VSB – Technical University of Ostrava.

In the spring, popularisers from all over the country had the opportunity to enter the Český VŠEVĚD competition. The 31 scientists who expressed interest had to meet several criteria: a video filmed on a mobile phone with a running time of up to 150 seconds, without editing, on the topic of Mystery. For half a year, they collected individual votes from the public, while the final six were selected by a four-member jury consisting of Vladimír Piskala from the Czech Television’s science editorial office and three of last year’s finalists from the VŠEVĚD competition. In November, the final six underwent a three-day training course in science slam skills to get well acquainted with the popularisation format and, with the help of a lecturer, prepare their performance in detail.

The Czech VŠEVĚD is a popularisation competition of the Night of Scientists, which was born in 2022 with the support of twenty-one universities. Its main goal is to introduce Czech scientists and their workplaces, universities, scientific, and other educational institutions to the public.