Science Week is an annual, week-long event in Ireland each November, celebrating science.
The aim of the week is to promote the relevance of science, engineering and technology in our everyday lives and to demonstrate the importance of these disciplines to the future development of Irish society and to the economy.
It is the largest science festival in the country, involving tens of thousands of members of the general public in talks, workshops, laboratory demonstrations, science walks and other science-related events.
Another highlight of Science Week in recent years has been the series of guest lectures by prominent scientists, researchers and inventors.
‘The Chemistry of Life’
Discover Science & Engineering has announce the 2011 Science Week Lecture Series, with a range of superb speakers and fascinating topics, reflecting on this year’s theme, ‘The Chemistry of Life’.
From how chemistry is central to the food we eat, to its importance in solving crimes, the series will explore how chemistry influences the world around us. The series will also examine immunology, disease prevention and how chemistry is central to the work of an astronaut.
For example, Dolores O’Riordan, an expert on food, and will reveal the role that chemistry plays in food production in her lecture Smart Chemistry – Tasty Food!
Dr John O’Shaughnessy, a forensic scientist, and his lecture, The Chemistry of Life – A Criminal’s Life! will focus on how chemistry can be used to catch criminals.
Prof Luke O’Neill will reveal how a human protein triggers the alarm system for your immune system in How Science is Explaining the Basis for Inflammatory Diseases.
And Dr Christer Fuglesang will be giving two lectures, based on his work as an astronaut with the European Space Agency: EXPOSURE Experiments and Space Careers – Life and Science in Space.
Science Week is an initiative of the Irish Government’s Discover Science & Engineering (DSE) awareness programme.
DSE is managed by Forfás on behalf of the Office of Science and Technology at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. DSE runs numerous other initiatives, including My Science Career, Science.ie and Discover Primary Science.
In advance of Dublin City of Science 2012, Siliconrepublic.com is hosting Science November, a month dedicated to news, reports, interviews and videos covering a range of Irish science, research and innovation.
