AN Oxford student who scrambled an egg on stage while talking about the beginning of the universe has claimed the regional title of being the best science 'chatter'.

Maria Violaris, a fourth-year physics master’s student, won the Oxford FameLab Regional Final 2020 and is now in with the chance of winning the UK final in June.

She competed at the Science Oxford Theatre at Stansfeld Park science hub in Headington last Friday.

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The contest sees science enthusiasts talk about a scientific concept or idea in an engaging way, either their own research or an area of science they are passionate about.

They have just three minutes to win over a panel of judges and an audience.

Miss Violaris used her talk to speculate about the beginning of the universe – while scrambling an egg on stage.

She will now go on to compete in the UK final at the Cheltenham Science Festival.

Luiza Patorski, Science Oxford events manager, said: “Maria has been brilliant throughout the competition – she has such an engaging style of communicating with the audience and relates her topic in a way that everyone can understand.

“We wish her all the best for the final in June.”

FameLab UK aims to find the new voices of science and engineering. Previous contestants have included teachers, oil engineers and doctors.

The Oxford regional final was hosted by Science Oxford where eight contestants performed their three-minute skits in front of a panel of judges that included Professor Irene Tracey, head of the department of clinical neuroscience at the University of Oxford, Oxford astronomer Professor Patrick Roche and science education consultant Lynne Pebworth.

The evening was hosted by Dr Lucy Rogers – science author, inventor and judge on BBC2’s Robot Wars.

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Ms Violaris, from Manchester, gave a ‘fascinating and hilarious’ talk which wowed the judges – sending her straight through to the UK final.

FameLab was started in 2005 in the UK by Cheltenham Science Festival. It is the only international science competition designed to find, train and mentor scientists and engineers to share their enthusiasm for research with the public.

Participants from around the world engage and entertain, armed only with their wit and a few props.

Ms Violaris, who is the founder and president of Quantum Information Society at Oxford University and is also an Oxford Foundry Student Fellow, has won a number of awards in the science field.

She is specialising in theoretical physics and science communication.