Let’s START talking about research! Trinity to host European Researchers’ Night
Posted on: 18 November 2020
Trinity College is set to throw open its (virtual) doors and welcome you inside to meet its researchers, discover their projects and understand their passions. The university will host European Researchers’ Night, an annual Europe-wide event that showcases research and aims to bring researchers and the public closer together, on November 27th 2020.
The 2019 event attracted 1.6 million visitors across 400 European cities. All event activities may be virtual this year, but that won’t dampen the enthusiasm and passion of the Trinity researchers taking part in START: Start Talking About Research Today
A wide range of activities and events are included in the programme, with something for all ages and all interests; in particular, this year there are a number of events specifically designed for primary and secondary school students and families. A full programme of events will take place from November 16th, leading up to European Researchers’ Night on November 27th. All events are entirely free, but registration is required.
For a full listing of all events and activities, you can visit: https://www.tcd.ie/research/start/
This year’s programme highlights include:
How can we recognise “good” science without understanding “bad” science? Join us for a series of talks and activities to figure out how to sort the good from the bad! At the Tent of Bad Science, we look at how science changes.
Walk through a history of misconceptions and faulty theories, talk about why these are so compelling, and learn how to avoid being hoodwinked in an era of fake news. Join Trinity researchers and invited guests as we discuss the theatre of science and who benefits when we turn a blind eye to science.
A diorama photo challenge for children aged 7-14. Irish landscapes have not always looked the way they do today. For instance, about 450,000 years ago, Ireland was covered by a thick ice cap, which was so huge that one could have walked on top of it all the way to Norway in a straight line.
‘A story of geology and toys’ is a competition that asks you to tell the story of Ireland’s past environments by making a diorama (scene) using toys. Prizes for the best entries!
Tackle our live virtual escape room and help to solve the climate crisis! The year is 2050 and Earth has been devastated by the climate crisis. It’s too late to save the planet now; the only solution is to go back in time and set humanity on the right course. Work as a team and help to solve the puzzles across space and time before there’s no future to come back to!
Seamus Heaney was deeply interested in what it meant to see. In his poetry, he concentrated intently on objects, images, and on the idea of vision, in order to ask questions about how we perceive our environment, and how we describe and remember our own experiences.
This talk will focus on four poems in which Heaney writes about paintings and photographs and explore the ideas he raised in them about what it means to use words and images to represent the world around us.
Dr Jennifer Daly, START Coordinator, said:
European Researchers’ Night events are the perfect opportunity for researchers to engage with the public and to start new conversations. Trinity’s researchers have gone the extra mile to create a series of activities and events that are interactive and entertaining – there really is something for everyone! We’re very excited by the move online this year as it gives us the chance to welcome visitors from all over Ireland and around Europe to our events.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 955428