He is currently writing his doctoral thesis on the seasonal occupation of Neanderthal settlements at the URV and the IPHES

Carlos Sánchez is one of 12 researchers to have been chosen from the 71 who participated in the qualifying round for the FameLab 2018 competition. He gave a three minute presentation on the settlement behaviour of Neanderthals. The judges emphasised the “impressive communications skills of the competitors” who were required to explain in “three minutes and in an entertaining manner” the various subjects that they submitted in video format for the semi-final of the competition. Carlos will participate in the semi-final in Zaragoza on 6 April, in an event hosted by the comedian Luis Ladorrera at the CaixaForum Cultural Centre.

The judges for the semi-final will be figures from the world of science and communication who will score the contestants on the three C’s: charisma, content and clarity. Of the 12 contestants, 8 will go through to the Spanish final in Madrid, and from these a winner will be chosen to represent Spain in the international final at the Cheltenham Science Festival in the UK in June.

Carlos Sánchez was the winner of the “Vols saber què investigo?” competition, organised by the URV on 15 November in the Teatre Bartrina in Reus as part of its 2017 Science Week. It is the third time that a URV doctoral student has qualified for this competition.

He is currently studying for his doctorate at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili and the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES), where he is completing his thesis entitled “Paleoecología Neandertal en el Paleolítico medio del norte de España: análisis conjunta de micro-desgaste dental y cemento-cronología” under the supervision of ICREA researcher, Florent Rivals.

Famelab

Famelab is a science communication competition that grew out of an original idea at the 2005 Cheltenham Festival. Its aim is to promote scientific communication by identifying, training and promoting talented young individuals through the innovative format of the scientific monologue.

In Spain, FameLab is organised by the Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología (FECYT) and the British Council, in collaboration with Obra Social ”la Caixa”. FameLab is currently held in more than 30 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and America, and more than 8000 researchers from around the world have participated in one of its editions.