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Science Week 2016 to celebrate vibrancy of Birkbeck’s research community

Annual showcase to include free public talks, lab tours, panel discussions and film screening

Science research at Birkbeck is set to be celebrated next month in a packed programme of free public events during the College’s Science Week.

Running from 11-14 April, Science Week 2016 will comprise a series of public talks, lab tours, panel discussions and a film screening – all of which aim to capture the vibrancy of science research activities taking place at Birkbeck. Disciplines being showcased include astronomy, petrology, structural biology and psychopathology.

All events in the five-day programme are free for members of the public, plus staff and students, to attend. The full programme can be viewed on the School of Science event page. Highlights include:

  • The inaugural Rosalind Franklin Lecture, featuring a talk by Professor Elspeth Garman. Like Dr Franklin – who conducted some of her most successful research at Birkbeck in the 1950s – Professor Garman is a preeminent crystallographer. In her presentation, she will explain how the study of crystals allows us to find the three-dimensional shapes of molecules, from the small chocolate molecule to the DNA that carries our genetic information. 
  • Selecting the landing site for 2018 ExoMars Rover – a talk by planetary scientist and UK Space Agency Advanced Aurora Research Fellow, Dr Peter Grindrod, on the current mission to searching for life on Mars
  • Petrology lab tour– a hands-on opportunity for participants to immerse themselves in a world of microscopic detail, looking at the wonders of individual minerals to reveal the beauty of metamorphic, igneous and sedimentary rocks with their own eyes.

Professor Nick Keep, Executive Dean of the School of Science: “Science Week offers anyone the opportunity to engage with the exciting research that’s going on in the School of Science here at Birkbeck, as well as to learn about the globally-recognised teaching programmes we run here.

“These events are aimed at anybody with even the slightest interest in science – we don’t expect them to be experts in any of the fields. We look forward to welcoming people from outside and inside the College’s community to this annual celebration.”     

The full programme for Science Week 2016 can be seen on the School of Science’s events page. Please note, while all events are free, some require participants to reserve a space.

Listen to Professor Keep speak about the packed Science Week 2016 programme on the latest episode of Birkbeck voices (listen from 16mins 0secs):

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