Cofund on Biotechnologies

ERA CoBioTech Video contest report

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Introduction

ERA CoBioTech brings together a number of national funding organizations that contribute national funds (besideds EC ‘top-up’) to fund research and innovation in the field of biotechnology. ERA CoBioTech joint transnational calls (JTCs) fund excellent science, which is often understood only by scientists themselves. From the very beginning of the project, ERA CoBioTech has placed great emphasis on communication activities in order to make the results of research and, above all, the social benefits of this publicly funded research more widely understood. A communication workshop was organized for projects funded under the 1^st JTC. In addition to support with short recommendations for effective communication, two video workshops were conducted for all research projects funded in all three ERA CoBioTech JTCs. 

The purpose of the video contest

During the project, the ERA CoBioTech team developed the idea of rewarding successful communication, in terms of a two-way process: 1) communicating the results of scientific research understood by the general public and 2) recognizability of biotechnological scientific results in everyday life.

Thus, in early December 2021, we announced a video contest for two categories: 1) for research projects funded under all three ERA CoBioTech JTCs and 2) for high school and university students from all around the world.

The deadline for submitting videos ended in mid-March 2022. The winners were determined by the ERA CoBioTech jury, followed by YouTube public voting results. The winners of both categories were announced at the ERA CoBioTech Final meeting (June 2, 2022, in Ljubljana, Slovenia).

Contest evaluation

Three videos were submitted in the first category and five videos in the second category. All the competition videos were relevant in terms of content, but they differed significantly in their originality and creativity. In the ERA CoBioTech team, we estimate that if the video contest was held for a longer period of time than it actually was, we could attract a much larger number of applications, and thus perhaps video products of even better quality.

In any case, ERA CoBioTech would recommend similar competitions to other ERA-Net projects and similar initiatives. This kind of collaboration connects science and research with the general public  (and vice versa) in a very clear, simple and creative way. Of course, (cash) prizes further stimulate participation.

You are invited to watch the award-winning videos below:

1^st category / ERA CoBioTehc JTC research projects:

1)      ERA CoBioTech Video Contest 2022, 1^st category: Microbial Integration of Plastics in the Circular Economy (Miplace project)

2)      ERA CoBioTech Video Contest 2022,1^st category : SyCoLim (SyCoLim project)

3)      ERA CoBioTech Video contest 2022, 1^st category: Sustainable Coproduction(Sustainable Co-Production project)

2^nd category / students:

1)      ERA CoBioTech Video Contest 2022, 2^nd category: Biotechnology for Everyday Life (Alara Tanlak, Turkey)

2)      ERA CoBioTech Video contest 2022, 2^nd category: Biotechnology in our daily lives (Manuel Martos Pérez, Spain)

3)      ERA CoBioTech Video contest 2022, 2^nd category: Burger of the future (Marc Amil, United Kingdom)