National Science Week is ready to launch in Australia this August, full of events to inspire and excite curious minds of all ages. This year’s festival explores how innovative thinking will transform and create industries of the future. We invite you to discover, question, laugh and learn with an impressive line-up of activities that combine the worlds of science, art and technology.
The festival kicks off a stellar hands-on program in grand style at the National Portrait Gallery. The No-Knit Neurons installation runs from 7 to 31 August with an accompanying workshop on Sunday 13 August, where you can learn about neuroscience while getting crafty – a no brainer!
ACT Libraries are also bursting with things to do: try your hand at coding with Ozobots and Code with Robogals and MiRo-E Dogs, build a colourful solar system with Pom Pom Planets, explore it with your very own Planetary Landing Craft, or get your hands dirty with some good old-fashioned cornflour slime!
There’s the rare opportunity to see science up close at the Heavy Ion Accelerator Facilities at ANU on their open day, or take a pop culture look with Science.Art.Film: Blade Runner at the National Film & Sound Archive of Australia on Friday 16 August. Hosted by science communicator Dr Anna-Sophie Jürgens, the screening will be followed by a panel discussion with scientists from the realms of neuroscience and bioethics.
For more illuminating perspectives, be sure to catch Death, Dying and Disposal – A ‘Panel of Positivity’ on Friday 18 August at the Woden Library – an intriguing and open discussion on our universally shared experience.
Inspiring academia is also on offer the Australian Academy of Science, starting with our fourth public speaker series event, Looking Back, Moving Forward: Caring for Land and Country on Tuesday 8 August, followed by Dr Meganne Christian’s inspiring lecture From Antarctica to Space via Bologna, Italy on Friday 11 August.
Don’t miss the opportunity to go exploring deep underground at Australian Parliament House with an expert geologist from Geoscience Australia, in the Unconformity Geology Tours that offer a special glimpse of Earth from millions of years ago.
We’re also taking over Canberra’s shops once again in 2023 with Science in the Centres, filling both weekends with workshops and interactive displays. From the wonders of Questacon to the prehistoric thrills at the National Dinosaur Museum, we’ve got something for everyone. Touch fossils and meteorites, try some spectroscopy and chemistry experiments, learn about First Nations plants and tools, control a robot, or even touch a snake! With the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, Young Engineers Canberra, Geoscience Australia, and many more STEM stars ready to show you wonderous things and answer all your questions, prepare to embark on an incredible scientific adventure.
Australia’s annual science celebration, National Science Week is an opportunity to meet scientists, think big, and celebrate STEM. While National Science Week 2023 officially runs from 12 to 20 August, activities run throughout the month. Event details can be found at www.scienceweek.net.au
