Public engagement
Due to unforeseen circumstances, fertility expert Lord Robert Winston is not able to give the Spotlight on Science talk, “Can We Really Trust Scientists?”, scheduled for 12 March as the opening event of the 2007 Cambridge Science Festival.
The question of 'public engagement' for universities is rising up the political agenda. Universities are increasingly being asked to demonstrate their work in knowledge transfer with community groups and the public, as well as with business.
Are you passionate about communicating your subject to the general public? Could your enthusiasm for your field – whether science or humanities - hold a non-academic audience spellbound in a lecture hall or classroom, or even on television or radio?
Eleven University of Cambridge lecturers have been recognised for their excellence in teaching, at an award ceremony for the 2006 Pilkington Prizes on July 6.
Visitors of all ages will be welcomed tomorrow to a second Science on Saturday, with hands-on activities, talks and demonstrations at the Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Physics, Astronomy and Churchill College among many other venues.
Tonight’s Cambridge Science Festival ’‘Spotlight on Science’ lecture will focus on the ground-breaking research being conducted in physics at the world-famous Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. Professor Andy Fabian of the Institute of Astronomy will talk about future developments in cosmology, including dark matter, black holes, and other universes.
The final ’‘Spotlight on Science’ lecture of the Cambridge Science Festival will discuss the issues facing the human race and our planet.
Are you lucky or just obeying the laws of chance? Simon Singh, author of ’‘Fermat's Last Theorem’, ’‘The Code Book’ and ’‘Big Bang’, looks at the mathematics behind various situations involving luck, risk and coincidence, from the casino to the hospital, from the courtroom to the supernatural. Indeed, our lives are dominated by the laws of chance...an oxymoron if ever there was one. Simon will give some examples that illustrate how our intuition often misleads us, and he will demonstrate how mathematics and critical thinking can help us live, thrive and survive.
Do the genes for autism and scientific ability run in the same families? Tonight, as part of the ’‘Spotlight on Science’ series at the Cambridge Science Festival, Professor Simon Baron-Cohen will discuss classic autism and Asperger Syndrome, two subgroups on the autistic spectrum.
The Cambridge Science Festival was opened to thousands of visitors on Saturday by celebrity mathematician and University of Cambridge graduate Carol Vorderman and University of Cambridge Vice Chancellor Professor Alison Richard.
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