First International Researchers Grand Prix

Eleven young researchers from the six Forthem Alliance universities took part in the 1st International Researchers Grand Prix. The finals took place on 6 November 2024 in Kristiansand, Norway. The University of Opole was represented by Wiktoria Grabalska from the UO Institute of Law and Robert Radziej from the UO Doctoral School.

‘The adventure of taking part in the Young Researchers’ Grand Prix is the kind of thing you decide on with the thought: why not! Then it gives you a lot of stress, but in the end it turns out that it really was a great decision,’ says Wiktoria Grabalska. ‘The workshops in Poland helped me prepare for the national finals and ultimately resulted in winning and a ticket to the international finals in Norway. Once there, the reality turned out to be better than expected. The people we met there were exceptional and the topics of their speeches extremely inspiring. The hosts welcomed us very warmly. The whole production was carried out professionally and made a big impression on us.

‘I am glad that I could be a part of this project,’ adds Robert Radziej. ‘I entered it with uncertainty as to whether, at this stage of my PhD, it was worth throwing myself into the deep end in the form of competing with other young researchers who are more advanced. This turned out to be a stroke of luck, as it helped me to understand the essence of my research even better. I once heard Einstein’s maxim that if you can’t explain something simply, it means you don’t understand it sufficiently. I believe it hits the nail on the head. Adopting this perspective of presenting research not at a scientific symposium before experts in one’s field, but in a simple form in front of a wider audience allows one to step out of one’s ‘bubble’ of thinking and better understand the essence of one’s research.

The international finals of the Forthem Alliance Young Researchers Grand Prix were organised by Universitetet Agder in Norway. It was attended by the winners of national competitions from six FORTHEM universities – young researchers from Opole, Riga, Mainz, Jyväskylä, Agder and Dijon. The competition was won by Houda Rafi from Université de Bourgogne in France.

The Young Researchers Grand Prix is a competition that has been held for years at the University of Agder. Thanks to the cooperation in the Forthem Alliance, this year the finals of this competition had an international character. The aim is to popularise the achievements and research of young scientists. Each participant has only four minutes to present his or her research project in an interesting and precise manner before the jury and the audience. The winner is chosen by a vote of the jury and the audience.

The grand finale, organised by Universitetet Agder, took the form of an international TV show. It was a professional TV production, recorded and streamed to all Alliance countries from which the participants in the event came. – It was an impressive event, prepared very professionally, with attention to every detail, and above all with attention to a friendly and creative atmosphere,’ emphasises Dr Katarzyna Kownacka from the University of Opole, who accompanied the finalists from Opole. ‘Many thanks for this to the organisers and all the teams that took part in the final!’

At the start of the broadcast, the organisers connected online with each of the countries from which the finalists came, with university teams cheering them on. In Opole, the broadcast, set up by Dr Wojciech Opioła from the UO’s Institute of Political Science and Administration, took place at the OPO Club.

‘All in all, it was three very intensive days of rehearsals and testing tweaks after hints and the thrilling finale,’ recalls Wiktoria Grabalska. ‘There was also time for integration and getting to know the whole group. We created an atmosphere where we didn’t feel that it was a competition and there could only be one winner. We supported each other, praised each other, gave each other advice and got stressed together. There was no competitive spirit, rather a spirit of having fun combined with learning and networking and wanting to present ourselves in the best way. My presentation actually sailed to 120% of what we had planned as a team, and I am proud of how it turned out. I think this is largely thanks to our close-knit ‘team Poland’ that Robert and I created with Dr Kownacka, who accompanied us as a mentor from the UO. Without this support, my presentation would not have gone so well and the whole stay would not have been so successful. I am grateful that I was able to take part in this project, make it far and meet great young researchers. To be in such a group is an honour, and when we all stood on stage together after the final thanking and congratulating each other, I once again felt that it was not a competition. The only dissatisfaction left is that I would like to meet the group I met again and get on stage. After the jury’s comments, which once again described Robert and I as born speakers, I think we are both looking forward to where this adventure will take us next. I really hope that there will be more projects like this and that they will become a tradition at the UO as well.

‘The FORTHEM Researcher Grand Prix is an event that should be permanently on the calendar of the Alliance’s popularisation events,’ adds Robert Radziej. ‘It is inspiring, developing and creates the potential for valuable networking between young researchers of Alliance universities. I think it’s also an excellent idea to promote the university to more than just young people, which shows, opens up and connects the academic world with the local community and allows us to leave the smaller groups in which we function and better understand the perspectives, problems and solutions being developed. I am very grateful to the coaches of the Polish team for their guidance in preparing speeches, both in terms of presentation, clarity of speech and aspects such as diction. The opportunity to work with professionals in these fields and to improve my public speaking skills is a great asset of this event. On the other hand, the experience of the GP finals in Norway is difficult to describe. First and foremost, I guess, gratitude for the opportunity to be part of this international experience. What struck me first and foremost was the unique, friendly atmosphere among the participants and a very high level of technical support for this show, which evolved into a format of micro-events. Although one winner was announced, I can venture to say that, in fact, the winners are all the participants. And the greatest reward is the friendships made and the memories that will stay with us well beyond the predicted end of our research.

The University of Opole belongs to the European Universities Network and is part of the FORTHEM Alliance, which also includes Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz (Germany), Université de Bourgogne (France), Jyväskylän yliopisto (Finland), Università degli Studi di Palermo (Italy), Latvijas Universitāte (Latvia), Universitat de València (Spain), Universitetet Agder (Norway) and Universitatea ‘Lucian Blaga’ din Sibiu (Romania).