The science festival Pint of Science to be held for the first time at the UAB and Sabadell
How the brain functions, microalgae for batteries, meteorites travelling towards Earth, and improving one's life and moving with safety thanks to AI are some of the conferences that will be offered in this year's edition of the scientific dissemination festival Pint of Science, which will be held at the UAB and in Sabadell. The presentation of the festival will take place on Friday 16 May at 5:00 p.m, followed by two conferences at the Plaça Cívica restaurant. On 19, 20 and 21 May, the festival will be held at The Wild Geese in Sabadell, where the conferences will begin at 7:30 p.m.
Pint of Science, the festival that takes science out of the lab and shares it with the general public in common places such as cafés and pubs, will this year be held for the first time in Sabadell and at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). A total of eleven popular science talks will be offered by researchers from the University and different campus research centres. The goal is to make the festival bring science closer to society and create dialogues directly between those conducting research and citizens.
On Friday 16 May at 5:00 p.m., the restaurant of the Plaça Cívica will hold the presentation of the event with two scientific conferences: the first will talk about how our brain functions and will be given by Raül Andero, ICREA research lecturer at the Institut de Neurociències of the UAB (INc-UAB). The second conference will deal with science and philosophy and will be given by Pol Ruiz, pre-doctoral researcher in the Department of Philosophy.
From Friday 16 to Wednesday 21 May, the Pint of Science will be open to the public at The Wild Geese Irish Pub of Sabadell, starting at 7:30 p.m. A total of nine conferences will be offered, with issues ranging from sustainability and health to the universe, emteorites and artificial intelligence. Among the researchers and scientists participating will be Martí Perarnau, from the Department of Physics of the UAB, who will talk about the impact of data processing on energy consumption; Aura Hernández, from the UAB School of Engineering and the Computer Vision Centre (CVC), who will explore how artificial intelligence can help to improve health, well-being and safety in mobility; and Eduard Masvidal, from the Catalan Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), who will explain how nanoelectrical technology allows us to talk with our nervous system to learn more about it and fight against diseases such as Parkinson's disease or epilepsy.
The Pint of Science edition offered in Sabadell is possible thanks to the initiative by a group of researchers from the European PhD programme DocFam+ (DOCtoral training programme in Functional Advanced Materials), which created a local committee to prepare this experience in the region where they lived and worked, and this contribute to strengthening ties between science and local citizens.
The goal of the initiative is to open the doors of science: despite it being often confined to the laboratory, research can and should be explained outside of academic circles. According to the organisers, the pub, accompanied by beer and informal talks, is the ideal place to stimulate the audience's curiousity, ask questions and enjoy one of the dj sessions that will be accompanying the conferences.
Entrance is free, and the initiative is possible thanks to the support of the UAB and the collaboration of several research centres, such as the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) and the ICN2.
Since its first edition in 2013 in the UK, launched by two PhD students from the Imperial College London, Pint of Science has grown to become an international event engaging thousands of researchers and science enthusiasts from dozens of countries each year.
In Spain, the 10th edition will include over a thousand events, including accessible conferences, monologues and interactive experiments. It will be held in 75 different places and transform cafés and pubs into a meeting place for academics and researchers from all disciplines, where they will debate on issues in a casual setting that fosters interactions with citizens.
The programme for the Pint of Science in Sabadell can be viewed here: https://pintofscience.es/events/sabadell