A feather in your cap: the feather is a prize passed on from one UAntwerp colleague to another in recognition of their efforts or achievements. This time, Evelien Smits (Center for Oncological Research) passes the feather on to Caroline Masquillier (departments of Sociology and Primary Care).
Caroline, this feather is for you.
I got to know you in 2018 thanks to your passion for creative science communication. Together with Julie De Smedt, you came up with the idea of using the elevator pitch, which allowed me to explain my research on immunotherapy in one minute to several people taking the elevator at the MAS. In this video (available on YouTube in Dutch), you can see that at least one person taking the elevator connected my presence there to the concept of an elevator pitch. I was impressed by your enthusiasm and enjoyed taking part in this pitch in a flowing and pleasant cooperation.
With your passion for science communication, it of course doesn’t stop at one project. With keen interest I watched the episode of ‘Vranckx and the Nomads’ about your research into health workers who provide accessible care to people in socio-economically vulnerable circumstances. An amazing achievement! It is only right that you’ve received several awards for your projects.
As a board member of the Young Academy, you also promote initiatives on science communication. Having held that position myself, I know that it involves a lot of organisational work for, among other things, the PhD Cup, the Eos Pipet and the Science Communication Prizes of the KVAB and the Young Academy. In my experience, the Young Academy is a place with constructive cooperation across universities and disciplines. It wasn’t just a sounding board for complaints, because they work on finding solutions for the challenges we face as an academy. It’s really something for you! In addition, you are also a member of the Science Communication Steering Group at our university.
Thank you, Caroline, for being so committed to the greater good! I am keeping my fingers crossed that you’ll be able to fully realise your academic ambitions and that, together with all our colleagues, we will push the concept of ‘constructive cooperation’ to even greater heights.
Wishing you the best,
Evelien Smits