British Science Festival opens in Liverpool
The 194th British Science Festival is now open in Liverpool.
LJMU is co-hosting the festival, which features more than 100 free events across the city, including a murder mystery, a maritime voyage back to the 1800s and dance therapy.
The festival – being delivered alongside the British Science Association and the University of Liverpool - will showcase the impactful and transformational work being delivered by the university.
The five-day event (10-14 September) is an opportunity to connect people and science, and take our research and activities out to our communities.
Below are some of the highlights being delivered by academics at LJMU.
Wednesday 10 September
On the first day of the festival, researchers explore the experiences of people who are prescribed cannabis. We show you how to track down Liverpool’s wild side and find out more about the city’s flora and fauna. Meanwhile, we have a demonstration of how motion capture technology is unlocking the effect dance therapy has on our cognitive, emotional and social health.
You can also visit a stunning mural of the Liverpool Telescope – the world’s largest robotic telescope – which has been painted by Paul Curtis on campus at LJMU and installed at College Lane, Liverpool ONE.
Thursday 11 September
Day two of the festival brings an interactive 60-minute workshop on coding, astronomical data and robotic telescopes. You also have chance to find out about the technologies that are deepening our understanding of the universe and changing our life on Earth.
As we continue to mark 50 years of sports science in Liverpool, a panel of academic leaders from LJMU are joined by senior sport scientists from Everton FC and Liverpool FC to discuss the science behind success at the highest level.
We also focus on women chemists who were catalysts for change, ask how we democratise museums and make them tools of social change, and give 10 researchers three minutes each to talk about their work.
Friday 12 September
Join us to travel back to the 1800s and discover how Victorians identified and documented medicinal plants. You can also take part in an interactive journey through the urban food system and unearth the benefits for people and planet.
Saturday 13 September
Help us investigate a fictional murder and cast your vote in an interactive event that reveals new frontiers in forensic research. You can also discover how artificial intelligence and digital twins are being used to improve decision-making in healthcare and join us on a journey through the somatosensory system. Our researchers also share cutting edge plant research used in drug discovery and explore the power of art-science collaborations.
Sunday 14 September
We close the festival by going back in time aboard a time-travelling virtual reality adventure as a ship prepares to leave Royal Albert Dock in 1846. LJMU researchers also share their expertise in how data science is used for everything from identifying art forgeries all the way to astrophysics, and how endoscopes are used at different scales and across sectors. We unearth the ongoing conservation efforts to protect and preserve medicinal plants at risk of extinction due to climate change and we help you build your flood resilience.
Take a look at the full programme and plan your visit.
