The Festival of Science and Engineering comes to city

TV scientist Professor Alice Roberts delivers the festival’s launch event on March 5, ‘The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being,’ which will explore the evolutionary history of humans, growing from a single cell into a fully formed human in a few short months.

The festival, which is organised by Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Sheffield, and runs throughout March, is an opportunity for schools and colleges, families and individuals to engage with science, technology, engineering and mathematics through a series of exciting events, including talks, exhibitions, tours, hands-on activities and even beer tasting. The festival coincides with British Science Week, and aims to celebrate the world-class science and engineering research at both of Sheffield’s universities.

There are two strands to the festival; the schools programme - with researchers from both universities and partner organisations visiting more than 100 schools across South Yorkshire to deliver over 200 free talks and activities to pupils of all ages - and the public side - featuring a wide range of free public events. In 2015 more than 6,600 people attended the public programme.

Dr Katherine Rawlinson, one of Sheffield Hallam’s lead organisers, said: “This year’s festival is the biggest so far and we are very excited about the range of events open to everyone in Sheffield and the region. Alice Roberts’ event is one of the early highlights of the festival and we hope that by the end of the festival, people of all ages and backgrounds will have learned or discovered something that fascinates them.”

Visit www.scienceweeksy.org.uk for details.