Latest news with #GlasgowScienceFestival
Glasgow Times
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
Glasgow Science Festival to launch biggest-ever programme
The 19th annual festival will host a range of activities for science enthusiasts of all ages across the city from June 5 to June 15. This year's events are united by the theme 'Glasgow Celebrates', recognising the 850 years since the city received the status of Burgh in 1175. Read more: Football team in 'impoverished' Glasgow area welcomes funding boost Researchers from the city's universities, artists, musicians, and representatives from leading charities will welcome audiences to iconic Glasgow locations. Glasgow's 33 libraries will also play a part in this year's programme, with displays of STEM-related books planned for the duration of the festival. The Smart Play Network's PlayTalkRead bus will bring science-focused fun aimed at children up to four years old to five libraries across the city. The university's Mazumdar-Shaw Advanced Research Centre (ARC) is set to host three special themed evenings exploring 'The Art of Science', 'The Sound of Science' and 'A Body of Science.' The Glasgow Science Festival is returning this June (Image: Supplied) Each evening hopes to bring science to life with live music, virtual reality displays, hands-on demonstrations, and more. Dr Deborah McNeill, director of the Glasgow Science Festival, said: "This year's programme is our most jam-packed ever, expanding to new venues and bringing in a widened range of events, shows and presentations. "We have more than 75 events in the programme, including film screenings, stand-up comedy, music shows and tours of the city. "Our ever-popular activity days are returning to the Glasgow Botanic Gardens and the Riverside and Kelvingrove Museums, featuring hundreds of hands-on activities and demos from researchers, who will be on hand to chat about their work. "We'll also be going on the road to being science to more people, with appearances at the Govan Fair and activities with local schools. "We're excited to be joining people across the city to celebrate both our scientific present and the city's historic past during this 850th anniversary year." The Glasgow Science Festival is supported by funding from the University of Glasgow and the Scottish Government. The 19th annual festival will host a range of activities for all ages (Image: Supplied) Read more: Ambitious plan revealed for former Glasgow banking hall Richard Lochhead, minister for business, said: "Scotland's science festivals help to inspire the next generation of scientists and entrepreneurs by bringing STEM subjects to life, making them accessible and entertaining for all ages. "Glasgow University's programme for 2025 is an impressive celebration of science in a special year for the city as it looks back on its history. "The Scottish Government's ongoing support for Glasgow Science Festival is a testament to the creative ways it supports learning and our ambitions for Scotland to be a home of innovation well into the future.' More information on this year's events can be found on the Glasgow Science Festival website.
The Herald Scotland
29-04-2025
- Science
- The Herald Scotland
Celebrating Glasgow's dizzying array of research
Over the course of Glasgow's evolution, one of the key threads is research. Researchers working across the city have made dozens of world-changing breakthroughs. The Industrial Revolution was sparked by James Watt's improvements to the Newcomen steam engine, helping to create the world we live in now. Joseph Lister's pioneering use of antiseptics in surgery during the 19th century helped lay the path to modern medicine, while Ian Donald's development of ultrasound in the 1950s revolutionised prenatal care. Chemist Frederick Soddy's development of the concept of isotopes, which changed the way we understand atoms and helped underpin the development of nuclear energy, won him the Nobel Prize in 1921. As director of the Glasgow Science Festival since its inception, I've been playing my part in celebrating the city every year by helping academics working today provide visitors with insights into the past, present and future of research in Glasgow. This year's festival is our 19th event. Over the course of the last two decades, I've had the privilege of watching the city's researchers achieve new breakthroughs, as universities invested in their campuses to enable new developments and industries including life sciences and the space sector grew and developed in and around Glasgow. During my time as director of the festival, researchers from the University of Glasgow played a key role in the historic first detection of gravitational waves – ripples in spacetime caused by massive cosmic events like the collisions of black holes. City researchers have pioneered new methods of personalising medicine to help achieve better care for people affected by diseases like cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. They have developed cutting-edge new materials to create flexible sensors for applications including healthcare monitoring. They are working to establish the ultrafast 6G communications networks of the future, and to harness advanced photonics for use in quantum technologies, sensing, security and more. Through the University of Glasgow-led GALLANT project, they are also working to use the city as a living lab to find new ways for urban environments to adapt to the climate crisis. There's a dizzying array of other research going on across Glasgow, covering everything from AI to zoology. The city's future as a leader in science seems certain. As we complete our preparations for this year's festival in June, I'm excited to be showcasing depth and breadth of the city's research in this historic year. But, I'm just as excited for the festivals to come, where we'll be continue to bring people together to celebrate new developments as well as reflect on past achievements. Dr Deborah McNeill of the University of Glasgow is director of the Glasgow Science Festival. This year's festival runs from June 5-15 at venues across the city. Agenda is a column for outside contributors. Contact: agenda@
