On the 28th of November, Science Day took place. Science Day is an initiative of different scientific partners and Universities to bring science to the people. Due to the COVID situation, Science Day took place online, with different online activities. One of these activities was ‘3 Minute Thesis’, which is an international competition in which PhD-researchers from all over the world pitch their research in just three minutes, trying to convince a jury of their work and communication skills. KU Leuven organised the Belgian preliminary round to select the candidate for two international finales, and people could watch the performance of the candidates live via the channels of Science Day. One of the competitors was our colleague Eline Vereecken, pitching to the audience how we can avoid that concrete bridges come down with a big bang. In total, there were 10 participants, trying to convince the jury of their topic in a clear and understandable way.
Finally, after a long deliberation of the jury and a close neck to neck race, Eline ended first place with her pitch 'How can we avoid that concrete bridges come down with a big bang?'. This means Eline will be representing Belgium in the next international round!