Taking place from November 11-18, Science Week is an annual festival which celebrates science and research with more than 1,000 events organised throughout Ireland. However, this year for the first time the French Embassy and Alliance Française Dublin have partnered with researchers and artists to offer a distinct new line-up with a special French touch.
The French Festival at Science Week will take place from November 14-19 across Dublin showcasing innovative science fairs, comic art exhibitions, talks and interactive workshops. It kicks off in The Sugar Club with Effervesciences, a 90-minute show hosted by Dr Richard-Emmanuel Eastes – Chemistry Associate and Doctor of Education and Philosophy, as well as Head of Academic and Professional Development at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Western Switzerland.
Organisers say the event is filled with ‘intelligent wonder’ as the host uses demonstrations, entertainment, quizzes and theoretical and experimental challenges, to explore scientific phenomena in a simple and fun way. Children’s tickets cost €5 while adults can see the show for €8.
For the rest of the festival, Alliance Française Dublin’s Kildare Street premises will be transformed into a place of experiments and entertainment. Their café La Cocotte will become an exhibition space devoted to comics and science for free event My Thesis…in a Comic Strip! on November 15. Having faced the challenge of presenting their thesis in French last March, recent laureates have worked with artist Orchimy to translate their studies into comic form.
Dr Eastes will return for another workshop exploring whether it’s possible to learn maths, science, languages or geography through video games. Taking place on November 15, the event is free to attend, as are the final two shows Children’s Workshop Native Scientists and Les Cellules Déambulent. The first is on November 17 and is a workshop for pupils 6-12 years old who speak French at home and English in school. The event is to help them develop their language skills and science knowledge while meeting role models in the industry.
Meanwhile, closing event Les Cellules Déambulent is a demonstration that aims to educate the public about cells and their capacity to take on a diverse range of roles in the human body. This will be followed by a workshop, during which participants experiment with cells, extracting DNA from a banana.
Open to adults and children alike, the festival aims to educate and entertain. For more details visit www.alliance-francaise.ie/scienceweek/
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