30 Apr 2024
Glasgow is set to transform into a celebration of the city’s past, present and future on the cutting edge of science and technology as the Glasgow Science Festival returns in June.
The programme for this year’s festival is being officially unveiled today (Tuesday 30 April) ahead of the start of the series of events which run between 6 and 16 June.
The festival, now in its 18th year, brings together representatives from UK universities, voluntary organisations and government bodies to lead more than 150 activities, talks, workshops, and exhibitions centred around the theme of ‘Glasgow's Transforming’.
The theme will be explored during events across the city in venues including the Riverside, Kelvingrove and Hunterian Museums, the Glasgow Botanic Gardens, and the University of Glasgow’s Mazumdar-Shaw Advanced Research Centre.
Visitors will have the chance to learn more about the city’s involvement in health and wellbeing research, innovative tech breakthroughs, the intersections between art and science, the importance of nature and biodiversity and Glasgow’s rich scientific and industrial heritage.
Glasgow Science Festival is delighted to be supported and funded by the Scottish Government and the University of Glasgow.
Minister for Small Business, Innovation, Tourism and Trade Richard Lochhead said: “Glasgow is a centre of world-class science, innovation and research. The Science Festival celebrates that proud tradition and enables people to learn about and share in the city’s new achievements. I hope it also inspires the next generation of scientists, engineers, mathematicians and entrepreneurs, whose skills we will need as Scotland grows the sustainable industries of the future. That is why the Scottish Government is delighted to support this wonderful event and others like it right across the country.”
The festival’s popular Science on the Sofa programme, which began in 2020 when in-person events were cancelled due to pandemic lockdowns, returns once more, offering a diverse selection of educational online videos, events and activities.
Science on the Sofa can be accessed from the festival’s website for the entire month of June, covering topics including dealing with plastic waste, tackling the threat of viruses making the jump from animals to humans, and how women are contributing to space research.
Dr Deborah McNeill of the University of Glasgow is the Glasgow Science Festival’s director. She said: “Glasgow has been in a state of reinvention for hundreds of years, shapeshifting from a world leader in textiles, shipbuilding and engineering to the pioneering hub for a wide range of science and medical research that it is today.
This year’s festival will celebrate that spirit of invention with events for visitors of all ages. It’s particularly apt that we’ll be exploring the ways in which Glasgow’s transforming during the year which the city celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of Lord Kelvin, who contributed so much to the modern world, from laying to first transatlantic telegraph cable to developing the temperature scale that bears his name”.
“I’m looking forward to welcoming people from across the city, around Scotland and beyond to this year’s festival, and virtual visitors to our Science of the Sofa programme.”
Some of the highlights of this year’s festival include:
The festival will also continue its longstanding relationship with schools through the Creating Engineers competition, which invites pupils from P5 and P6 to tackle challenges using k:Nex kits. This year, the festival is also running a competition for children aged between 4 and 18 to develop an idea for an app which could solve real-life problems using science, technology, engineering and maths. The winning entries will be displayed at the Riverside Museum between June 6 and June 16.
For more information on this year’s Glasgow Science Festival lineup, visit https://www.gla.ac.uk/events/sciencefestival/
Pictured: Researchers from the University of Glasgow’s School of Computing Science showcase their VR technology which turns a 30mph car trip into thrilling fast-paced spaceship adventure without causing motion sickness. The technology will be showcased at the Riverside Museum between 14-16 June.
Picture courtesy of University of Glasgow