A young scientist, a seasoned researcher, and a startup founder walk into a bar. The result? Another full-house session of the Quantum Potential comedy show. For six years, ITMO has invited members of the science community to take the stage. This time, more than 500 people signed up to attend. The show included four performances – plus an impromptu fifth – which explored timely and timeless scientific matters through the language of humor (and, in one case, dance).
Oleksii Peltek, a junior researcher at the Faculty of Physics, explained the concept of non-reproducible experiments and how scientists deal with them. Alexander Mayatin, the deputy dean of the Information Technologies and Programming Faculty, revealed the secret ways of training the "bestest" IT specialists. Dmitry Kuznetsov, a tech entrepreneur and founder of Skolkovo resident VKUSTEST, elaborated on why innovations, unlike personal taste, can and should be debated, as well as provided a few tips on how to do that with the help of sweet-and-spicy sauce. Landysh Fatkhutdinova, a staff member of the Faculty of Physics, sought to answer the question “why don’t scientists cry?”
Later in the evening, a daring audience member took the stage. Alexander Antropov from MIPT improvised a stand-up routine about the key differences between theoretical and practical physicists.
“The Sochi version of our show always differs from the one in St. Petersburg. Usually, the ‘science stand-up’ format implies a degree of simplification of complex topics. We try to avoid complex terminology, formulas, numbers, and various discourse about the inner workings of science work. Here, we have a whole other audience: PhD students, startup founders, and experienced university staff. They’re always more interested in hearing about ‘hardcore’ science and learning about their colleagues’ experiences. For those taking the stage at CYS, the goal is to say something that resonates with the struggles and successes of other scientists,” says Aleksandr Gostev, the founder of Quantum Potential and the head of ITMO’s Special Projects Office.
