Café Scientifique is a place where, for the price of a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, anyone can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology.
Meetings take place in cafes, bars, restaurants or even theatres, but always outside a traditional academic context.
The first Cafés Scientifique in the UK were held in Leeds in 1998. From there, cafes gradually spread across the country. Currently, some 70 cafés meet regularly to hear scientists or writers talk about their work and discuss it with diverse audiences.
Café Scientifique is a forum for debating science issues, not a shop window for science. We are committed to promoting public engagement with science and to making science accountable.
Our monthly meetings take place on the first Monday of the month at 7pm.
If you wish to be informed about future events, then please email one of the organisers and we will happily add you to our email list.
Meet the Organisers
UPCOMING EVENTS
The impact of lifestyle factors in menopause
Olga Morton
7pm Monday 3rd February 2025
Waterstones Glasgow, Sauchiehall St, Glasgow G2 3EW
Menopause affects women worldwide and the symptoms can be significant and sometimes debilitating. To manage menopause symptoms, the first line treatment is usually hormone-replacement therapy or HRT, which can be life-changing. But for women who cannot - or choose not to - use HRT, are there safe alternatives? As our scientific knowledge about the menopause improves, we are realising the enormous impact that lifestyle factors can have on our symptoms, our wellbeing and our health. So could small and effective lifestyle changes be even more powerful and longer lasting than pills, gels and patches?
Dr Olga Morton will discuss effective lifestyle solutions to embrace menopause, with or without medication.
Dr. Olga Morton is an NHS GP and a research scientist, with a PhD in Molecular Biology and Immunology. In over 15 years working with patients with chronic diseases – such as high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, obesity, arthritis and migraines – she has witnessed how changes in lifestyle can lead to life-changing results. In 2019, she additionally qualified as a Certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician and now works as a specialist Menopause Coach and GP.
Sign up for the event via Eventbrite
How to make your own kimchi
Monday 3rd March 2025
**Note Special Evening Format**
6:30-7pm: Special additional event: “How to make your own kimchi (김치)” – live demonstration & tasting event by kimchi expert, Eddie Kim, founder & owner of ‘Gomo Kimchi’ in Govanhill.
Come & join Eddie for this special interactive kimchi-making & kimchi-tasting session! Eddie will take us through not only the process of making this traditional Korean salted & fermented food but also the part it plays in Korean diets, food culture and his own family history. We will finish with a delicious kimchi-tasting session where we’ll get to sample the delights of kimchi with rice and seaweed wraps! You can read more about Eddie & his story here: https://www.gomokimchi.com/our-story
***Please note: please book for this event separately to the Café Scientifique that follows so that we can gauge numbers of people taking part (see Eventbrite link below)
7-8:30pm: Café Scientifique talk with Shona KcKirdy (and Eddi Kim, Gomo Kimchi, Govanhill)
TALK: Fermented foods: Are they actually good for your gut microbiome?
Technological advancements over the past 50 years have allowed our scientific knowledge of the gut microbiome to rapidly expand, shedding light on the enormous impact that the bugs in our gut can have on our overall health. Growing in parallel to this is the digestive health market, worth tens of billions of pounds. Amongst the endless "gut health" supplements to choose from on supermarket and health store shelves, are fermented foods really worth the hype?
OUR SPEAKERS:
Shona Mckirdy is a PhD student in the human nutrition department at the University of Glasgow. She has spent the last 4 years researching dietary therapies for Inflammatory Bowel Disease, learning about the gut microbiome and how it is affected by what we eat. Her latest project is investigating the therapeutic potential of fermented foods for Ulcerative Colitis. Shona will discuss the science of fermented foods, how they might play a role in maintaining a healthy gut microbiome and what having a healthy gut microbiome really means.
Eddie Kim grew up in a Korean family, eating salted & fermented foods with every meal. He has lived and worked in Korea, USA & Germany - but when he moved to Glasgow, he realised that not only did he miss the taste of the kimchi – especially the kimchi made by his is auntie or “gomo” – but that as the older generations of his family passed away, his generation was at risk of losing the recipes, stories and traditions that had been held and passed down through families for some 4,000 years. Eddie decided to make it his life’s mission to collect the recipes, processes, stories and traditions that surround this part of traditional Korean food culture and share it with the good people of Glasgow and beyond. In 2022, he set up ‘Gomo Kimchi’ - a small shop in Govanhill named in honour of his “gomo”, making & selling small-batch, traditional kimchi inspired by his auntie’s recipes. He now runs the shop and pop-up kimchi events, spreading the joy – and health benefits - of this delicious Korean food across Glasgow and beyond!
Eventbrite Link. Places for the events are linited, so please sign up for both halves here:-