The short film ‘Pulsars: A Tale of Cosmic Clock’ wins the first prize in the ‘Science in Action’ competition

2022-07-14 10:00:00

The short film 'Pulsars: A tale of Cosmic Clocks', created by the astrophysicist Nanda Rea, researcher at the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) and member of the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC — Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya), has received the 1st Ex Aequo Prize for Short Science Films in the 'Short Science Films' category of the 23rd edition of the ‘Science in Action 2022’ competition. Directed by Niccolò Bruna and Matias Guerra (15L Films and Virtual Immersions in Science, VIS), the film has the scientific support of ICE-CSIC researchers and IEEC members Vanessa Graber and Stefano Ascenzi, as well as Marco Valdes (VIS). The piece, which is also part of the official selection of the Raw Science Film Festival, has been produced with funding from the European Research Council and the European programme of scientific cooperation actions COST. It is available in English with Spanish subtitles on the ICE-CSIC YouTube channel.

The jury decided to award the first prize to the ICE-CSIC/IEEC short film for showing to young students—by means of cinematographic techniques—that science has no gender, and for giving visibility to the figure of Jocelyn Bell. Jocelyn Bell Burnell is a Northern Irish astrophysicist who, together with her thesis supervisor Antony Hewish, discovered the first pulsar radio signal, a major contribution to the astrophysics field. The discovery was recognised by the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics. However, Bell was not one of the recipients of the prize. This fact is considered to be one of the great injustices in the history of science in terms of the lack of visibility of the role of women scientists.

'Science in Action' is organised by a directorate, the Centro Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), the Fundación Lilly (FL), the Instituto de Ciencias Matemáticas (ICMAT), the Real Sociedad Española de Física (RSEF), the Real Sociedad Española de Química (RSEQ), the Sociedad Española de Astronomía (SEA) and the Sociedad Geológica de España (SGE). It is an international competition aimed at students, teachers, researchers, and disseminators of the scientific community in any of its disciplines. Its main objective is to present science in an attractive and motivating way, so that young people and the general public become interested in it and throughout the competition enjoy attending the conferences, as well as observing and participating in the fair.

After two years of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fair will be held again in person on 7, 8, and 9 October 2022 in Viladecans. The awards ceremony will take place on the last day of the fair, at the Atrium Theatre.

Congratulations to all the ICE-CSIC/IEEC team!