Inverness Science Festival announces 2019 programme

Inverness Science Festival kicks off later this month, with a range of free events taking place around the city from Monday 29 April to Sunday 12 May.

This year’s festival features an extensive family programme, including a science scavenger hunt at Inverness Campus, a periodic table trail at the Victorian Market, Lego sessions at Inverness Library and dinosaur fun at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery.

The festival family day, which takes place at Inverness Leisure on Saturday 11 May, will have over 30 science activities to get involved with, from learning how to instruct robots to discovering the science of behind bubbles.

Inverness College UHI will be the venue for the festival’s public lecture programme. Delivered by a range of local experts, the series includes lectures on marine science, artificial intelligence, the science of nursing and astronomy.

A schools and young people programme will also run throughout the festival with activities taking place at schools and youth groups across the Highland Council area.

Inverness Science Festival is organised by the University of the Highlands and Islands science technology engineering and maths (STEM) team. Speaking about the event, Samantha Clark, STEM Development Manager, said: “We are extremely excited to be hosting this year’s Inverness Science Festival. With over 30 science themed events for both adults and children happening across the city, we can’t wait to celebrate science and technology in Inverness. We hope the festival will inspire people to find out more about science and develop a passion for this fascinating subject area.”

Science Minister Richard Lochhead said: “With real-life examples tailored to the local environment, including several events specifically for the whole family, Inverness Science Festival’s wide-ranging programme makes science accessible to communities in the Highlands.
 
“Our science festivals play a pivotal role in bringing science subjects to life for people from all backgrounds across Scotland, supporting the ambitions of our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education and Training Strategy and helping people to develop STEM skills and knowledge they can apply in their day-to-day lives.”

To see the full programme of events, visit the Inverness Science Festival website at www.uhi.ac.uk/isf or follow Inverness Science Festival on Facebook and the #InvSciFest hashtag on Twitter.