Glasgow Science Festival 2024 line-up announced
Glasgow Science Festival has released its programme for 2024 today, in what is set to be its largest yet.
The theme for this year’s event, which is now in its 18th year, is ‘Glasgow’s Transforming’ and it is set to be a celebration of the city’s scientific and technological past, present and future.
The festival, which runs between 6th and 16th June this year, brings together representatives from UK universities, voluntary organisations and government bodies to lead more than 150 activities, talks, workshops, and exhibitions centred around its theme.
The activities will be held across a multitude of venues in the city, 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’s director, Dr Deborah McNeill, 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 how Glasgow’s transforming during the year in 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”.
Some of the highlights of this year’s festival to keep an eye out for include:
- Fun and Useful Virtual/Augmented Reality for Transport Passengers: This event at the Riverside Museum between June 14th and 16th showcases research from the University of Glasgow’s School of Computing Science which uses virtual and augmented reality technology to reduce motion sickness on road trips.
- Exploring Kelvin’s Space Problem: The University of Glasgow’s Advanced Research Centre will host a multi-media artistic exploration of Lord Kelvin’s solution for filling 3D space using a single shape with minimal surface area. Visitors can visualise Kelvin’s solution through a series of paintings, texts and an interactive 3D model including work from artist Gregor Harvie.
- CinemaARC: A series of science-related films will be shown in an outdoor cinema at St Mungo Square, including scientific shorts showcasing the work of the University of Glasgow’s Advanced Research Centre, a family screening of Disney Pixar’s Lightyear and a chance to see Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity.
For more information on this year’s Glasgow Science Festival lineup, visit https://www.gla.ac.uk/events/sciencefestival/
