Festival of discovery comes to Exeter

A science comedy game show, lockdown blues workshop, and community radio takeover are just some of the events in a fascinating virtual festival of discovery taking place in Exeter later this month.

Exploring science, culture, and research, FUTURES2020 is hosted by the University of Exeter in partnership with Agile Rabbit, alongside the Universities of Bath, Bristol and Plymouth and Bath Spa University.

It is part of European Researchers’ Night, an annual festival held simultaneously in more than 300 cities across 24 European countries on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 November 2020. Guaranteed to help lighten the dark wintery days, it is an unusual opportunity to chat with researchers and take part in fun activities that showcase innovative discoveries from their cities.

In Exeter, culture and research will meet when artist Pete Ward and Lecturer Dr Joanie Willett run an online interactive event on Cornish ecology.

Lockdown Blues is a timely online workshop led by Dr Fred Cooper from the Wellcome Centre on Friday lunchtime, which will explore the themes of connection and catharsis through shared creativity.

Later that evening, Radio 4 journalist Ritula Shah will be chairing a discussion called Why is Climate Change so hard? Looking at psychology, doubt, and communication, panellists include Richard Betts MBE and the journalist Grace Blakeley.

Online and virtual events from other universities include the Curiosity Carousel Knowledge Fair, hosted by University of Bristol, a science comedy game show led by sci-stand-up Steven Cross at the University of Bath and the Big Family Quiz organised by the University of Plymouth.

Dr Kate Baker, an organiser of the event said: “There is so much interesting work to share from the University of Exeter. Everyone is welcome to enjoy a taste of it in these free events, at a time when it’s more important than ever to share positivity.”

Many of the FUTURES2020 events are targeted at families, to encourage young people to consider a career in research, but organisers promise to inspire ‘anyone with a curious mind’.

Dr Joel Morley, FUTURES2020 coordinator, the University of Bristol said: “Whilst the event might look a little different to previous years, with many of the taking place online, there are still plenty of ways that people can get actively involved, whether that’s pitting their wits against other families in our quiz, challenging our researchers with mind boggling questions at Q&A sessions or trying out some of the brilliant activities as part of our Do try this at Home event - exciting and hands on activities to try out while we are all spending more time inside.”

A full programme of events is available at futures2020.co.uk. Some events are ticketed but all are free.

Futures2020 is funded by the EU Commission as part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.