Food for thought as pub customers get lessons in research

The ‘Pint of Science’ international Festival will take place in Galway for the first time between the May 18-19.

‘Pint of Science’ is the largest festival of science globally, running concurrently in multiple pubs across eight countries in 50 cities.

The events in Galway will be hosted at the Oslo bar, Salthill and Busker Brownes in the City centre. They will run for two days with both venues looking at different aspects of science.

This is an initiative to engage the public in an accessible manner with the latest in scientific research.

Established in 2013 by Seán Mac Fhearraigh, ‘Pint of Science Ireland’ is running for the second time in Dublin, and for the first time in both Galway and Limerick this year.

Galway will have two Pint of Science hubs later this month. These will be Busker Browns and Oslo.

Busker Brownes will host discussions on ‘Technology and Planet Earth’, while the Oslo will see talks on the ‘Human Body’.

Both venues will be stocked full of leading and developing scientists, mostly from NUI Galway and affiliated institutes and centres. These scientists will meet the general public to talk about the research advances in their respective fields of study.

Panel discussions will follow all the presentations from three to four researchers on each night, offering food for thought to accompany the pints of science.

A wide variety of topics will cover recent progress in understanding human diseases, technologies to treat them, as well as the impact of technology on the future of our society and the role of water in our lives and in our future.

Created in 2012 by a group of UK postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers, ‘Pint of Science’ is a non-profit organisation involving scientists on a voluntary basis. Internationally it takes place in the UK, USA, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Australia.

A detailed programme of ‘Pint of Science Galway’ covering the themes human body, technology and planet Earth is available atwww.pintofscience.ie Alternatively you can follow ‘Pint of Science Galway’ on Facebook.

Tickets are free and must be booked online to attend any of the talks during the two-day event.