Glasgow is set to transform into a celebration of the city’s past, present and future on the cutting edge of science and technology as the Glasgow Science Festival returns in June.

The programme for this year’s festival is being officially unveiled today (Tuesday 30th April) ahead of the start of the series of events which run between 6th and 16th June.‌

‌Visit the Glasgow Science Festival webpage for more information, including on events featuring exciting UofG research.

The festival, now in its 18th year, brings together representatives from UK universities, voluntary organisations and government bodies to lead more than 150 activities, talks, workshops, and exhibitions centred around the theme of ‘Glasgow's Transforming’.

The theme will be explored during events across the city in venues including the University of Glasgow’s Mazumdar-Shaw Advanced Research Centre, the Riverside, Kelvingrove and Hunterian Museums, and the Glasgow Botanic Gardens.

Visitors will have the chance to learn more about the city’s involvement in health and wellbeing research, innovative tech breakthroughs, the intersections between art and science, the importance of nature and biodiversity and Glasgow’s rich scientific and industrial heritage. 

Glasgow Science Festival is delighted to be supported and funded by the University of Glasgow and the Scottish Government. 

The festival’s popular Science on the Sofa programme, which began in 2020 when in-person events were cancelled due to pandemic lockdowns, returns once more, offering a diverse selection of educational online videos, events and activities. 

Science on the Sofa can be accessed from the festival’s website for the entire month of June, covering topics including dealing with plastic waste, tackling the threat of viruses making the jump from animals to humans, and how women are contributing to space research.

Dr Deborah McNeill of the University of Glasgow is the Glasgow Science Festival’s director. She said: “Glasgow has been in a state of reinvention for hundreds of years, shapeshifting from a world leader in textiles, shipbuilding and engineering to the pioneering hub for a wide range of science and medical research that it is today. 

This year’s festival will celebrate that spirit of invention with events for visitors of all ages. It’s particularly apt that we’ll be exploring the ways in which Glasgow’s transforming during the year which the city celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of Lord Kelvin, who contributed so much to the modern world, from laying to first transatlantic telegraph cable to developing the temperature scale that bears his name”. 

“I’m looking forward to welcoming people from across the city, around Scotland and beyond to this year’s festival, and virtual visitors to our Science of the Sofa programme.”

First published: 9 May 2024

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