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Minister Harris announces €600,000 to support 15 festivals and hundreds of events for Science Week 2023

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris has announced €600,000 for Science Week 2023, which begins today (12 November).

The funding will be used to host 15 festivals and hundreds of events right across the country.

Speaking today, Minister Harris said:

"Science Week is a week-long event held each November that celebrates science in our everyday lives. It aims to remind us all of the impact and benefit of science in our daily lives. It also strives to stimulate, supports, and creates awareness of science.

"This year, we have taken areas identified by members of the public through Creating Our Future and focused on them for Science Week.

"The theme is Human? and as part of it, the public is being asked to consider the question of what it means to be human in today’s world, and how the decisions we make today will impact the people and world of the future. From the climate emergency to social interaction and artificial intelligence, how will future generations be impacted?

"There are events all across the country. Please do get involved. We have lots of important announcements coming this week so stay tuned and have fun."

Running from 12-19 November, Science Week 2023 will engage the Irish public on the theme of HUMAN? Curiosity about how we interact as human beings – with each other and the world around us.

Support of €644,330 has been provided to several regional Science Week-funded projects which contribute to the national Science Week effort at local and regional level.

Funded by the SFI Science Week Call, there will be a range of projects from across the sciences, arts, media, education, youth and community work sectors which broaden the reach and participation of people in Science Week in ways that are most suited to them.

This year, Science Foundation Ireland has funded 15 Science Week Festivals and seven Science Week Targeted Events, which are smaller, standalone activities for targeted audiences.

Commenting on Science Week, Director General of Science Foundation Ireland, Professor Philip Nolan, said:

"Science has a profound impact on individuals, society, and the world at large in a multitude of ways; from technological advancement to healthcare and medicine, environmental conservation, food production, and entertainment.

"Science Week 2023 will explore these themes and more, while we reflect on what it means to be human in today’s world and what lies ahead for future generations.

"Critical to the success of Science Week is the growing community of dedicated volunteers across the country who work tirelessly on delivering stimulating activities each year. We are truly thankful for their commitment to passionately promoting science among the general public.

"We encourage everyone to get involved in Science Week, whether at your local festival, online on social media, or with friends and family."

For more on funded activities, go to the SFI website.

Notes

Key dates

Science Week 2023: Sunday 12 – Sunday 19 November:

  • Monday 13 November - Launch Event
  • Tuesday – 14 November – Tomorrow Tonight: Ireland 2050 RTÉ/SFI Joint Initiative event
  • Wednesday 15 November – Oireachtas Seminar (Online) - AI & Assisted Driving
  • Thursday 16 November - School Shows Science Party
  • Sunday 19 November – Father of The Cyborgs screening in the Lighthouse Cinema

Throughout Science Week: Nationwide Festivals and Events

Throughout Science Week: National Media Campaign

Nationwide SFI-Funded Projects (Science Week Call)

Science Foundation Ireland has provided support of €644,330 to several regional Science Week-funded projects which contribute to the national Science Week effort at local and regional level. Funded by the SFI Science Week Call, there will be a range of projects from across the sciences, arts, media, education, youth and community work sectors which broaden the reach and participation of people in Science Week in ways that are most suited to them. This year, Science Foundation Ireland has funded 15 Science Week Festivals and seven Science Week Targeted Events, which are smaller, standalone activities for targeted audiences. For more on funded activities, go to the SFI website.

Sample of events taking place

Sligo Science Fair – ATU Sligo (Part of the Sligo Science Festival)

Saturday 12 November

The Annual Science Fair at ATU Sligo will include a wide range of performances, interactive displays and demonstrations for all the family to enjoy. Experiments, discovery and lots of fun guaranteed for both children and adults.

Tullamore Travellers Movement Centre (Part of the Midlands Science Festival)

Thursday 16 November, 12:00

A small group of young people who are attending the Tullamore Travellers Movement Centre and are currently taking part in a science of climate change programme, partly funded by the Irish Youth Foundation and delivered by Midlands Science. We plan to present them with certificates for this during Science Week and do some local PR on same in association with the community.

Immersive Exhibition & Tour of the National Space Centre – Midleton, Co. Cork (Part of Space Fest 2023)

Sunday 19 November, 11:00

  • Pending confirmation due to local flooding in area*

Tour the National Space Centre and explore the immersive work of dance artists-in-residence, The Dahu Collective, alongside creations by international artists and local students.

Science Week Events – co-ordinated by SFI

On Monday 13 November, Science Week will be joining with C’mere Til I Tell Ye, Dublin’s Science Week mini-festival, for a relaxed night of science culture at Hens’ Teeth, Blackpitts, Dublin 8. The evening will see the much-anticipated premiere live performance of HUMAN?, a new, jaw-dropping performance poem by award-winning Nigerian-Irish Poet, Performer and Playwrright, FELISPEAKS; a talk from Pint of Science; traditional music from DCU Trad Soc; experiments from Phil of Science; and an AI-themed DJ set. The evening will be attended by stakeholders, the public, and media and influencer partners. Note: this is an Adults only 18+ event.

Also on Monday 13 November, in The Complex Gallery and Studios (Arran Street, Dublin 7), Science Week and Irish Design Week (which is also taking place the same dates) are thrilled to come together to celebrate the science and design behind The Stories of the Submarinocurraplane. ‘Submarinocurraplane’ is not just a celebration of recycling and remaking - it is also a celebration of innovation and Irish technical know-how. In showcasing the engineering talents of John Philip Holland, and the traditional boatbuilders of Currachs, he has married recycling, innovation, aviation, and traditional boat-building into one sculptural piece.

On Sunday 19 November, in association with the Light House Cinema in Dublin’s Smithfield, a screening of Father of The Cyborgs will take place, followed by a panel discussion with researchers and the director, Daivd Burke. Dr. Phil Kennedy was once a famous neuroscientist. In the late 1990s, he made global headlines for implanting several wire electrodes in the brain of a paralyzed man and then teaching the locked-in patient to control a computer cursor with his mind. He became known as 'The Father of the Cyborgs'.

RTÉ/SFI Joint Initiative

RTÉ and SFI have jointly commissioned a live, in-person event on Tuesday 14 November in Dublin’s Project Arts Centre. Tomorrow Tonight: Ireland 2050 is an evening of discussion of how creativity can help us better understand an uncertain climate future. This is supporting the Coimisiún na Meán-funded programme Tomorrow Tonight, imagining what the news will look like in the year 2050, with presenters Mark Little and Carla O’Brien, which airs on Wednesday 15 November as part of Science Week.

Through the SFI-RTÉ Joint Agreement, the organisations have commissioned GAME CHANGER: AI AND YOU, which will air on RTÉ One on Thursday 16 November. In this documentary, Anne-Marie Tomchak will take a look at how this technology is transforming the human experience. SFI has worked with RTÉ over the last eight years to make challenges, developments and discoveries in science, engineering and technology more accessible to the public through television and digital media content. Science Week plays a key part in the wider SFI-RTÉ Joint Initiative, and spans TV programming across RTÉ One, RTÉjr, and tRTÉ, and weather broadcasts; radio with partnerships and stings, and online, through active social media campaigns and dedicated Science Week section on rte.ie.

Science Week School Shows

In addition to a wide range of school activities delivered by our festival partners, SFI delivers a digital schools offer which is accessible free to schools all over Ireland.

For primary schools, there will be two live online shows presented by Mary-Claire, Phil Smyth and Grainne Bleasdale, featuring experiments, special guests and exclusive content from CÚRAM - SFI Research Centre for Medical Devices, at Galway City Museum. This offer builds on the activities and teacher supports provided by SFI’s Curious Minds primary school programme throughout the year. On Thursday 16 November, Science Week partners with Microsoft to host a special Science Party live from Microsoft Dream Space in Sandyford. The party will be attended by a guest audience from St Kieran’s School for Children from the Traveller Community, Bray, Co. Wicklow, and Dunboyne Senior Primary School in Meath.

For secondary school learners, Science Week and ESERO Ireland (SFI’s education partnership with the European Space Agency) have partnered with influencers Shanice Griffin and Brandon Caulfield to create short TikToks around the themes of space exploration and Earth observation.

National Media Campaign

The Science Week team works closely with various media partners nationally to creatively generate awareness of Science Week by engaging target audiences and creating conversations amongst them. Coverage is spread across a wide range of media and audiences, with a particular aim of reaching disengaged audiences by bringing interesting, relevant, and thought-provoking content to those that do not regularly engage with STEM in their everyday lives. Media partners include a range of traditional and digital partnerships. In recent years, the campaign has proactively targeted 16-35-year-olds via podcast and influencer partnerships.

Content varies from articles based on interviews with researchers to video content, radio promotion, on-air discussions with researchers; formats are led by the partners and what works for their audiences, with SFI advising on how to bring science content to the fore. Partners for 2023 include:

  • The Irish Times
  • MediaHaus (Independent.ie/ Sunday Independent)
  • Irish Farmers Journal
  • Media Central (NewsTalk/Today FM/Off The Ball/ Futureproof)
  • Journal.ie
  • DMG Media (Evoke.ie)
  • podcasts – including The 2 Johnnies, Blindboy and I’m Grand Mam
  • influencers – including Paddy Smyth, Carl Mullan and Fionnuala Moran

For 2023, there will also be a nationwide visual campaign via building projections and out-of-home advertising, with questions around the Science Week HUMAN? theme to prompt conversations. This builds upon the launch photoshoot with Minister Harris at the National Concert Hall on 31 August:

  • HUMANS: are we building a future we'd be proud to leave behind?
  • HUMANS: can we mend our relationship with nature?
  • Can HUMANS find a way out of the climate crisis?
  • Can HUMANS live in harmony with AI?
  • Is technology good or bad for HUMANS?
  • Can science improve HUMAN health?

SFI Education and Public Engagement

Science Week is a major annual focal point of SFI’s Education and Public Engagement activities. Programmes continue year-round with major strands in addition to Science Week:

  • the SFI Discover Call supports a wide range of public engagement and informal education projects to empower diversity and inclusion in STEM. In 2023 Ministers Harris and Foley announced funding of more than €6 million for 40 projects
  • SFI’s education programmes help teachers build confidence and capacity in STEM. Curious Minds provides training for primary school teachers and a nationwide Awards programme (with 422 schools gaining awards last year). ESERO Ireland, the European Space Education Office in collaboration with the European Space Agency, provides activities for primary and secondary schools
  • SFI also supports education and public engagement activities via its network of 16 Research Centres around the country, embedding a culture of public engagement at the heart of cutting-edge research