The Edinburgh International Science Festival is a science festival

Science festival

A science festival is a public event featuring a variety of science- and technology-related activities—from lectures, exhibitions, workshops, live demonstrations of experiments, guided tours and panel discussions to cultural events such as theater plays, readings and musical productions, all with...

 which takes place each April in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. The festival features hundreds of talks, tours and exhibitions for children, families and adults in locations around the city. The festival was first held in 1989, and its principal sponsors are the Edinburgh City Council and the Scottish Executive

Scottish Executive

The Scottish Government is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was established in 1999 as the Scottish Executive, from the extant Scottish Office, and the term Scottish Executive remains its legal name under the Scotland Act 1998...

.

The Edinburgh International Science Festival is one of the largest science festivals in Europe and the 2010 had over 200 different events across the city.

Science Festival partners include the Medical Research Council

Medical Research Council (UK)

The Medical Research Council is a publicly-funded agency responsible for co-ordinating and funding medical research in the United Kingdom. It is one of seven Research Councils in the UK and is answerable to, although politically independent from, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...

, SCI-FUN

Sci-Fun

Sci-Fun, the Scottish Science and Technology Roadshow, is a non-profit science roadshow experience for schools run by the University of Edinburgh....

, the University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

, Our Dynamic Earth

Our Dynamic Earth

Our Dynamic Earth is a science centre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a prominent visitors attraction in the city, and also functions as a conference venue. It sits in the Holyrood area, beside the Scottish Parliament building and at the foot of Arthur's Seat....

, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Originally founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies four sites across Scotland — Edinburgh,...

, Bang Goes The Theory

Bang Goes the Theory

Bang Goes the Theory is a British television science magazine series, co-produced by the BBC and the Open University, that began on 27 July 2009 on BBC One. Presented by Liz Bonnin, Jem Stansfield, Dallas Campbell and Dr...

 and many more. Dr. Bunhead regularly appears at the festival. Speakers in 2010 included Professor Richard Dawkins, Brian Cox

Brian Cox (physicist)

Brian Edward Cox, OBE , is a British particle physicist, a Royal Society University Research Fellow and a professor at the University of Manchester. He is a member of the High Energy Physics group at the University of Manchester, and works on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at...

 and Professor Sir Ian Wilmut

Ian Wilmut

Sir Ian Wilmut, OBE FRS FMedSci FRSE is an English embryologist and is currently Director of the Medical Research Council Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He is best known as the leader of the research group that in 1996 first cloned a mammal from an adult somatic...

. The 2011 Science Festival ran from 9-22 April 2011. There were appearances by Professor Richard Dawkins, Lord Rees

Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow

Martin John Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow, OM, FRS is a British cosmologist and astrophysicist. He has been Astronomer Royal since 1995 and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge since 2004...

, Professor Lord Robert Winston

Robert Winston

Robert Maurice Lipson Winston, Baron Winston is a British professor, medical doctor, scientist, television presenter and politician.-Early life and education :...

, Kevin Warwick

Kevin Warwick

Kevin Warwick is a British scientist and professor of cybernetics at the University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom...

 and Carl Djerassi

Carl Djerassi

Carl Djerassi is an Austrian-American chemist, novelist, and playwright best known for his contribution to the development of the first oral contraceptive pill . Djerassi is emeritus professor of chemistry at Stanford University.He participated in the invention in 1951, together with Mexican Luis E...

. In 2011 the EISF featured Richard Wiseman

Richard Wiseman

Richard Wiseman is Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom.Wiseman started his professional life as a magician, before graduating in Psychology from University College London and obtaining a Ph.D...

as guest director of the festival.

The touring arm of the Edinburgh International Science Festival is Generation Science which is the educational outreach programme. It is one of the largest providers of science education outreach in Scotland.

External links

• Edinburgh International Science Festival