Explore the science behind baking cupcakes, disappearing bees, and Breaking Bad at NUI Galway’s first ever Undergraduate Science Fair. The fair include demonstrations, experiments, and hands-on activities and takes place on Wednesday, 19 March from 11am to 5pm in The View, Áras na Mac Léinn.

Student presenters from all science disciplines will be showing off interactive displays which they have created on a scientific topic that they find engaging and exciting.

Student organiser Joanne Duffy said “This is going to be a really exciting event. As a student in the undenominated Science programme at NUI Galway, I am constantly inspired and excited by the things I learn about every day, and I realise how lucky I am to be in this environment. I wanted to put on an event on that would give non-science students and members of the public an opportunity to be inspired by science too!”

As well as undergraduate science student presentations, displays from various outreach initiatives within the University will also be present.  Kitchen Chemistry will be on hand with their crowd-wowing display, the Cell Explorer’s Programme will demonstrate how to extract DNA from a banana, and venomous insect expert Dr Michel Dugon, aka the Bug Hunter, will bring along some of his favourite pets.

Dr Sarah Knight, one of the staff members behind this event and Outreach Officer with NUI Galway’s Ryan Institute, said “This is a great opportunity for Science students to try their hand at educating and enthusing others. Science Outreach is one of NUI Galway’s strengths, but as of yet the vast potential of our undergraduate students in this area remains largely untapped. One of the ideas behind the undergraduate science fair is to foster a culture of public engagement with Science within the undergraduate community.”

Funding for this event has come through NUI Galway’s EXPLORE initiative.  The event is free and open to everyone. For more information visit facebook.com/undergradsciencefair or contact nuigsciencefair@gmail.com.

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