Seeking Perfection scoops public engagement prize

Manchester Science Festival is part of a team that has scooped a prize in a European competition for best innovations in University outreach and public engagement.


A creative project called Seeking Perfection has been awarded the ‘Recognition of Distinction’ as part of the ‘EngageU’ programme. Over 100 projects were submitted from Universities across Europe, but this project was selected because of the quality of the collaboration between The University of Manchester, Nowgen, Contact Theatre and the Manchester Science Festival. The creative approaches used made this a distinctive and innovative project. The project team created a short video about the project. To watch this, please: click here 

Natalie Ireland, Director of Manchester Science Festival and Kate Dack, Nowgen's Public Programmes Manager were delighted that the Seeking Perfection project was recognised for its creativity and the depth of the engagement process.

The Seeking Perfection project explored human enhancement - which provides a rich vein for public engagement, exploring issues such as boosting athletic performance, taking stimulant drugs to improve memory and using plastic surgery. A team of 15 young people worked with researchers, ethicists and artists over a six week period to develop a performance about enhancement with creative partners. This was delivered in unusual settings, such as busy shopping centres, to reach local communities who would not typically engage with biomedical science. Seeking Perfection successfully promoted engagement with local communities.


The performance was then taken to the Zion Arts Centre, complimented with a public debate on issues brought up in the project. Andy Miah, Sarah Chan, Mark Gasson and David James were on the panel and expertly discussed and debated the issues with a lively audience. 


The project team had diverse backgrounds, but they were able to share their strengths to allow everyone to try something new. The Seeking Perfection project is contributing towards building a society where all can realise their potential. In this project the young people worked successfully as collaborators with university researchers, artists and also with other professionals in the team.

Seeking Perfections performers take to the stage

Many of the teenagers involved described being more intrigued by science after the project. One said: “I thought when I finished school I would never have to think about science again, and I’ve learnt it’s around us all the time and I should maybe pay more attention. I might blink and the world could be a completely different place.”


Seeking Perfection relied on the talent and experience of researchers within the University of Manchester, the enthusiasm and creativity of young people involved and the artistic backgrounds of Contact Theatre and artists involved. 


This project was funded by a People Award from the Wellcome Trust and we thank them for their support.


Further information about the competition: click here

MSF 2010 online event programme live!

Manchester Science Festival is back!

Last year was our most successful Festival ever, welcoming over 100,000 people to events around Greater Manchester. We’re back with a programme that promises to be even more exciting and packed with scientific treats.

The online events programme is now live! Head to our What's on pages to view the programme by theme, date, audience or venue to see what’s on offer at Manchester Science Festival 2010.

Alternatively, check out these highlights...

We’ve got half term sorted to keep the whole family entertained. It’s the international year of biodiversity, so release your inner explorer at one of our many wildlife workshops, expand your mind with the magic of maths or check out our Chemistry show in British Sign Language. For a real treat take the whole family to one of exciting headline shows brought to you by Gastronuts’ Stefan Gates or the amazing Science Junkies. And don’t forget to look out for our famous science buskers out and about at a town near you!

Check out our programme for teenagers and young people. You could be the next Kate Moss and design gorgeous accessories from recycled materials. For the more adventurous, feel the full force of the physics of adrenaline-fuelled sports like rock climbing and free falling. Discuss black scientists and the space programme or the issues surrounding Facebook and social media. And remember that girls can be geeks too – check out the Girl Geek Tea Party and Hidden Glory, a performance about Britain’s only female Nobel prize-winner in science, Dorothy Hodgkin.

And for adults, relax and soak up the science at one of our evening or weekend events… experience the paranormal with the Alpha Project, listen to sweet music at Brian Eno’s Apollo and Rutherford’s Lights, or debate the future of human enhancement. Be a film buff and discuss the science behind some classic horror and sci-fi films, laugh your socks off at our science stand-ups, find out more about Islamic science or get a dose of adrenaline exploring the universe at Super K Sonic Boooum.

We look forward to welcoming you back to what is now the UK’s most popular science festival, so delve into the programme, choose your events and we hope you enjoy your journey of discovery. Don’t forget most events are free! Sit back, hold on tight and enjoy the ride!

Happy 2009!

Happy new year!

So we can confirm the rumours are true - the festival will be back in 2009 and the dates are likely to be 24 October until 1 November.

And whilst you're waiting for that date to roll around, of course we'll be back blogging on here, as well as updating the main site with developments.

For now, you can entertain yourself with the video of the 2008 highlights that has just gone up on the site. Spot yourself or be inspired in time for this year...

Upcoming...

Big Science Read is coming towards its finale – and we’ve got some great author and writing events across Greater Manchester in the coming weeks. For instance, Chris Turney’s talking about his book “Ice, Mud and Blood: Lessons from Climates Past” and Michael Boulter’s exploring and explaining “Darwin’s Garden” as well, just in time for Darwin200.

You can find all the events on the BSR website - http://www.bigscienceread.org/events/ - along with the lists of books for you to vote for, and other information.

Hope to see you at an event and receive your vote soon!

Let's hope this isn't true for festivals...

"You only go to a science centre three times in your life... Once when you're eight years old; once when your kids are eight years old; and once when your grandchildren are eight years old."

National Science and Engineering Week (only 17 weeks to go)

For those of you who can't wait the 51 weeks for your next dose of science festival fun, it is only 17 weeks until National Science and Engineering Week. (Sorry, shameless bit of plugging!)
The BA (British Association for the Advancement of Science) and the Manchester Museum ran an information session for NSEW on Wednesday 29th October. The event was really well attended with quite a diverse audience; local school science teachers, science societies, students, researchers, along with representatives from a range of industries and businesses.
The evening was designed as an informal gathering which we hoped would spark a frenzy of idea generation and develop a support network for those people interested in becoming organisers for NSEW.

There were several presentations to get things going. The first was given by Joanna Rooke from the BA and provided a large amount of information regarding NSEW. Much of this information and the resources she promoted can be found at,
http://www.the-ba.net/the-ba/Events/NSEW/

Following the presentations there was a nibbles-fuelled ideas/networking session. The cafe had a great buzz to it during this time and I am optimistic that collaborations were formed, ideas formulated and that NSEW 2009 is going to be the best yet.

Unfortunately there are no more information sessions planned in preparation for the 2009 event. However, it is not too late to get involved! Whoever you are, NSEW is an opportunity for everyone to get involved in science, engineering, technology and maths events. Any audience, any format, any topic (although the broad theme for 2009 is 'Change').
If you want any more information don't hesitate to get in touch with the BA through their website.

Four snapshots...

Poppy Adams reading from The Behaviour of Moths, Manchester Museum

Busking at Piccadilly station

The 3D EARTH mosiac at the Trafford Centre

The sold out Blade Runner screening

51 weeks to go...

So it's basically all over for 2008 - what a buzz!

There are still a couple of events upcoming, including one tonight at Manchester Museum about the bronze age shovel and, of course, stick insect weekend this Saturday/ Sunday!

And there's loads you can do by downloading and interacting with the festival over the coming weeks, not least the City South podcast and trail, amongst other things (like www.hearmanchester.com and the Science Places walk). Check out the Interactive section of the festival website for more details.

In the meantime, we'll be going back to post photos and other bits and pieces from the festival here, as well as putting up some end-of-the-festival posts...

Catch you back here soon?

International Science Directors

While all the exciting public events have been going on, a group of science festival directors from around the world have arrived in Manchester. Thanks to the British Council and MOSI, 2o delegates have been sharing experiences and lessons on setting up and running science festivals. Alongside that, we have seen some of the top festival events.

So, what have we all been learning? Well, on Monday we learned about why different festivals in the UK were set up, and how their missions have changed. These can be local events, like this festival, or national programmes like the BA Festival. In the afternoon we listened to Trevor Bayliss talk about his belief that invention should be taught to all young people.

On Tuesday we compared the way our festivals, and the major UK events, are operated. It seems that no two festivals are completely alike, although we all have similar issues to contend with (funding, marketing and working with partners). In the afternoon were taken on a walk around the scientific history of Manchester, before participating in the Nowgen debate on the politics of immunisation. Judging by the live voting at the event, the audience was surprisingly representative of the UK population (with very similar views), even though 20 were from overseas.

Today was a rapid journey through the programme to commemorate Darwin Year in 2009, with presentations from two major Darwin festivals as well as UK and international coordinating projects.

So, what have we learned so far? Science festivals are thriving all around the world. UK festivals, like Manchester and Newcastle, compare well but there are some amazingly dynamic and innovative activities elsewhere. Many events are celebratory, cultural events but dialogue is becoming a common theme everywhere. We've learnt about the importance of stories in communicating complex ideas and seen how in some cases a compelling story can dominate over fact. Still to come, we'll find out about wo works in festivals and the perfect location, as well as discovering the identity of the UK's best young science communicator. And maybe, by the time we finish on friday, everyone will have adjusted to UK time.

The story so far, and more to come!

Already, we've (deep breath)...
...science busked in the station, been on telly, done some city walks, launched the Planet-Box art at the library, met Our Kid, told some stories, made a massive 3D mosaic, played with noisy toys, hung out at the Trafford Centre, done a Mensa test, learnt and used some BSL, talked about dystopian novels, heard about the behaviour of moths, seen evolutionary colour in action, hunted for aliens, and solved a crime in CSI Manchester!

But there's more, so much more...

Even in the next 48 hours you could (another deep breath)...
...debate state interventions in health decisions, take a sound tour, see some cartoon science, be a dinosaur detective, watch the Cosmic Africa film, find out where your mind is, bend it like Sparky, get a plant's view of the world, and do chemistry with cabbage!

To find out more simply search on the website for any of the above! And see you at something before the next big weekend, we hope?

Clip from Friday's BBC NW Tonight

Liquid nitrogen on the move!

Phew! After many months of preparation I have this afternoon finally left MOSI with an auditorium choc-full of exciting Chemistry demos ready for go tomorrow at the BSL Signs for Science Chemistry Demonstration at 11am.

It's been quite a feat to pull together this event (and its partner event BSL Signs for Science Finding New Science Terms at 2.30pm) and looking back to the start I can see that I underestimated how much work needs to go into planning a fully translated event. After what must rack up to about 3000 emails between about 10 people coordinating these two BSL events has been a bit like directing a fleet of slow-moving tankers. Not that I suggest my valued colleagues are slow-moving! Rather that there was so much to do and so many people to talk to, liaise and negotiate with in order for us to pull together all the pre-requisites for the events.

Of course there are the presenters to organize getting over to Manchester, but I've also needed to recruit a BSL translator and and electronic notetaker who can work on demand so that audience members can hear, see or read whatever language they work best with. We've needed to liaise heavily with MOSI to ensure the room is fully accessible and everyone is visible to everyone else (thanks Julie for all your help!) and we've also had to track down the equipment and chemicals needed for the event - a huge thank you to the University of Manchester Chemistry Department who have furnished us with everything we need at no expense to us.

It was a little hairy transporting the chemicals across town to MOSI but I had a helper (thanks Jenny!) and additional people at both ends to pack the car and we managed to make it safely to MOSI without any angry taxis driving into the back of us and freezing us all with a burst container of liquid nitrogen!

It has been hugely gratifying to get to the end of today and see everything set up ready to go tomorrow. I hope very much we get the mixed audience we are looking for tomorrow and that they all enjoy the events. These events are a part of something bigger - we need to be actively making public science events accessible to as many people as possible. Yes it's hard work, yes it can be expensive, but it is all worth it to enable everyone to share the wonder of science. Funders take note, we need more money to make as many events accessible to as many people as possible! And organizers, we need to be considering all kinds of people when planning our events to enable as many people as possible to attend. Even simple actions - a touch table here, a hearing loop there, or a bus to get people to the venue, can open up your event to a whole new world of people. It's time to share our expertise and maybe next year Manchester Science Festival, and our other events during the rest of the year, will be a sell-out to a diverse audience and we can confidently express satisfaction at having engaged new people with science.

Our Kid

Monday saw the launch of Nowgen's project, Our Kid, celebrating 60 years of the NHS.

As part of it, they've made an interactive exhibition stand, and also a graphic novel detailing the experiences of teenagers with restricted growth.

Next week, they're launching a series of free debates and talks around health - IVF, leukaemia, TB and MMR - and of course a chance to see Our Kid for yourself at Manchester's Central Library.

TV galore!

Looks like we're taking over BBC NW Tonight!

Ruth's in the studio doing a demo, we've all been filmed and interviewed at Piccadilly station, and there's even some extras on their website...

And we've made the front page of BBC Manchester online.

All in all, a good haul!

BIG bang projection!

Wow! We're well impressed - thanks guys!

Last weekend's Yellow Trailblazer

While the Festival is warming up to start on this weekend, Building Initiative (an international group of architects and urbanists) was one of this year's trailblazers. Last Saturday (the 18th) we invited for a critical walking trail in Manchester. The weather was brilliant and we had a great time with a lot of inspiring discussions.

We started at CUBE gallery (where we present our project "How Yellow is Manchester?"), walked to Piccadilly Garden and went on to the Northern Quarter. There we "left" the inner city centre for exploring Strangeways. We were wondering what is green about the Greenquarter. We saw the beautiful buildings and lonely streets near the prison. And did you know that there is a Sikh temple hidden in-between all the wholesale and business?

We collected these and more thoughts about and places in Manchester in our publication Yellow Press. Please have a look at our website www.buildinginitiative.org or drop in at CUBE gallery to pick up a copy of our free newspaper that tries a fresh and critical look at Manchester's current city planning!

Not all half-term fun and games...

Apart from all the obvious family half-term fun, there are loads of debates, talks and more for adults and teenagers.

Can we live without oil?

Should kids who haven’t had the MMR jab be excluded from school?

Are there aliens out there?

What is the potential for a cosmic catastrophe from astronomical phenomena?

Plus Stephen Baxter talking about his writing, Martin Rowson cartooning and much more!

Have a leaf through the website - then book and bring your colleagues and mates.

See you at something over the next week and more then!

Big bang imminent!

Bring on Saturday’s big bang – Manchester Science Festival is about to kick off!

There’s loads of half-term fun for all the family, as well as hot topics and current issues to be explored each day.

Talk to a futurologist, debate controversial ideas, spot our science buskers, walk the city, hear the river Mersey’s story, use BSL signs for science, do chemistry with cabbage, and join the www.BigScienceRead.org!

With each of the nine days packed full of things to do and see, it’s impossible to highlight everything here. Go on the website and search by day, venue, theme or take a random pick - www.manchestersciencefestival.com

And keep an eye out for our buskers at Piccadilly station, entertaining leisure travellers and commuters alike…


Big Science Read is really gathering pace now, with the big weekend of events on the 25-26 October. All the books and events are listed on www.BigScienceRead.org

Amongst other things, you can hear one of the UK’s leading sci fi writers, Stephen Baxter - book now – limited places! You can also join an intriguing exploration between imagination, language and maths: find out more details and book here.

Hope to see you at something on the weekend – and spread the word!

Science busking

This week at MOSI we had some science busking training which went really well and prepared the presenters and volunteers with skills to take with them to Piccadilly station, Arndale market and the Trafford centre to teach unsuspecting members of the public science!

Press coverage for the schools tour

The Manchester Science Festival got several mentions in local news reports on Thursday 16th and Friday 17th October.

The main hook of each was the guest lecturer at Moorside High, Steve Pearce, who has recently been commissioned by NASA to develop a potion which resembles the smell of spacce. Each report mentions the Manchester Science Festival which is great!

Please see the following links:

Channel M

BBC NW Tonight

Manchester Evening News

The Telegraph