Outreach

Tech Talk in Tucson (Arizona, USA)

In the US, I was invited to talk about cosmology in front of young entrepreneurs at a Tech-Talk event. The audience was mainly made of people who launched innovative start-ups, and the organisers wanted talks that force people to think 'outside the box'. Talking about the Big Bang theory to industrial people was challenging, but the experience was wonderful. Entrepreneurs know what they want and are strong problem solvers. They came up with plenty of practical questions regarding the theories beyond the Big Bang and did their best to grasp all the notions I was sketching in my presentation.

From this evening, I took home the following message: Don't look down at your audience. People outside your field may come up with much more interesting questions than you would think...

Pints of Science (Leeds, UK)

In 2022, I had the privilege of talking about the dark side of the universe at the Pints of Science organised in Leeds. A week before the event, I realised that people had to pay to attend the event, which terrified me, as I did not think many would pay to listen to a relatively unknown physicist for the general public. I was wrong. The room was packed with people of all ages. The audience was passionate about cosmology, astroparticles, and gravitation. I got terrific questions, especially from young teenagers craving to know more than what they can read in the media. The event was wonderfully organised. This was one of the most beautiful outreach experiences I ever had.

I'm a Scientist, Get Me Out of Here (Online)

In 2023, I participated in the online event : I'm a Scientist, Get Me Out of Here. The idea is simple: Connect online for half-an-hour sessions with about twenty primary school students and their professors and answer their questions. At first sight, the exercise sounds a bit boring, but in practice, it is very challenging. Students came up with A LOT of questions, sometimes about science, sometimes about life as a scientist. Keeping pupils entertained online is difficult. All the scientists involved came up with fun metaphors, analogies, and very personal ways of describing their experience as a scientist. I learned a lot in this event, not only about my capacity to write efficiently to young people by observing their reactions but also by observing other scientists' answers and comparing them to mine.

I was lucky enough that the students elected me the winner of the week when I participated. I felt extremely blessed!