It’s probably too late to tell you to join us at The University of Manchester’s ScienceX event at the Trafford Centre over the weekend of 22nd/23rd April! If you did come along, we hope you had a good time; if not you can see Twitter highlights via @OfficialUoM‘s Moments, and some photos on the University’s Storify feed.
But that has made me realise it is probably a good time to let you know about events coming up this spring and summer. We hope you can join us for some of the following events over the next few months…
DISCOVER SPACE IN MANCHESTER
The UK Space Conference 2017 is taking place in Manchester at the end of May/beginning of June. As this falls in half term, there’ll be two days of family activities running alongside the conference. DISCOVER SPACE will host a series of fun and educational activities, hands-on interactive exhibits, talks and showcases to capture the imagination of inspire young people to pursue careers in science, engineering and technology.
DISCOVER SPACE is taking place on Wednesday 31st May and Thursday 1st June at Manchester Central Convention Complex (G-Mex to natives like me!), and is recommended for families with children between 4 and 16. It is free to attend, but to secure your place and avoid disappointment it is recommended that you register via discover-space.eventbrite.co.uk asap.
The University of Manchester Community Festival
On Saturday 17th June the University is opening its doors to its local neighbours for a free Community Festival, so everyone can discover the variety of things we do. This is your chance to go behind the scenes at the University, through a fun-filled day of hands-on activities, live experiments, interactive demonstrations, musical and dramatic performances, the chance to meet staff and scientists, behind the scenes tours, workshops and much, much more.
Activities will be taking at a number of locations across the University, including the Manchester Museum and Martin Harris Centre. Keep an eye on the website for further details and updates, www.manchester.ac.uk/communityfestival, and follow @UoMEngage and the hashtag #UoMFestival on Twitter.
Bluedot Festival
We’re very excited to be part of the Bluedot Festival again! This “intergalactic festival of music, science, arts, culture and the exploration of space” takes place at Jodrell Bank in the shadow of the Lovell Telescope from Friday 7th to Sunday 9th July.
We’ll be taking up residence in the Star Field for the weekend, with our Moon, Mars and Meteorites activities. Group member Katherine Joy is presenting one of the Dot Talks on Friday, talking about Space Rocks in Ice: Hunting for Meteorites in Antarctica. And other research groups from the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences will feature at the festival too: our colleagues from the Geomicrobiology Group will be in the Planet Field looking at Life at the Extremes.
Weekend and day tickets are now on sale – check out the Tickets section of the website for more details.