Image of multiple squares of knitters taking part in an online knitting event for Explorathon 2020

Explorathon is the Scottish arm of ‘European Researchers’ Night’, an EC-funded festival happening in 300 cities across Europe.

This year, the festival, taking place between 20 to 26 September, is going online to connect the public with university research through Zoom workshops, Twitter-takeovers, Facebook Live events and more.

The Explorathon programme is now live at http://www.explorathon.co.uk, with FREE events for all ages led by University of Glasgow staff and students from all four Colleges.

Dr Zara Gladman, the University of Glasgow’s Public & Community Engagement Advisor said: “2021 is the eighth year of Explorathon. I’m delighted that the University of Glasgow continues to be a part of this brilliant festival, which connects thousands of people with Scottish research and celebrates our collaborations across Europe.

"From the first ever Explorathon “Virtual Pub Quiz” to live music and even an escape room, this year is sure to be an entertaining one. I hope to see you there!”

From family-friendly, interactive talks exploring the weird and wonderful world of illusions (Master of Illusion, 23 September) to language tasters for beginners (Italian & Spanish, 25 September), an immunology-themed escape room (The Great Immune Escape, 21 September) and talks revealing the latest medical research including medical imaging and the spinal cord, there’s plenty to dip into this year, all from the comfort of your home.

This year, we’ve partnered with cultural hub ‘You Call That Radio’ to present the first ever Explorathon Pub Quiz (23 September, 7pm). Featuring crowd-sourced questions from researchers across Scotland, the quiz will stream live on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, with prizes to be won and performances from local artists.

Grab your knitting needles for ‘Spinning a Yarn about Chemistry’, and join Beth Paschke and Shazia Ahmed to knit chemistry-themed patterns and celebrate the 275th anniversary of the School of Chemistry. Wool and patterns will be provided – just register online and receive your free materials in the post.

Give your sleeping habits a makeover and pick up tips at Maria Gardani’s event on 22 September, which will uncover the latest research in getting a good night’s kip.

How good are you at spotting fake news, photos and videos? Yvonne Skipper’s interactive workshop (Project Real, 22 September) for parents and children will test your detective skills.

Why don’t women talk more in video games? Join a lunchtime workshop on 23 September with philosopher Dr Steph Rennick and linguist Dr Sean Roberts to explore dialogue and gender and hear the results of an ongoing study of female characters.

Follow @ernscot on Twitter for the Scottish Researcher Showcase on 17 September. Be inspired by watching a different researcher explains their research every 15 minutes.

Other events include a plant-based cook-along, talks on urban history, a showcase of sustainability-themed school projects and even a maths-themed photography workshop.

This is just a flavour of what’s in store! For the full programme and booking, visit explorathon.co.uk.

First published: 16 September 2021

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