Science Week Ireland is an annual week-long event in Ireland each November, celebrating science

Science

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

. It is the largest science festival in the country, involving tens of thousands of members of the general public in workshops, talks, laboratory demonstrations, science walks and other science-related events.

Another highlight of Science Week in recent years has been the series of guest lectures by prominent scientists, researchers and inventors.

Science Week is an initiative of the Irish Government

Irish Government

The Government of Ireland is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland.-Members of the Government:Membership of the Government is regulated fundamentally by the Constitution of Ireland. The Government is headed by a prime minister called the Taoiseach...

's Discover Science & Engineering

Discover Science & Engineering

Discover Science & Engineering is an Irish Government initiative that aims to increase interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics among students, teachers and members of the public in Ireland....

 (DSE) awareness programme. DSE is managed by Forfás

Forfás

Forfás is the national policy advisory board for enterprise, trade, science, technology and innovation in the Republic of Ireland. The agency was established in January 1994 under the and is run by a board appointed by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, to whom the agency is...

 on behalf of the Office of Science and Technology at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. DSE runs numerous other initiatives, including My Science Career

My Science Career

The My Science Career website is an Irish online resource for career information in science, technology, engineering and mathematics .The website has a famous Irish scientists section, science related articles, a science career glossary and a video interviews section with scientists about their work...

, Science.ie

Science.ie

The Science.ie portal provides all sorts of information about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics .- Overview :...

 and Discover Primary Science

Discover Primary Science

Discover Primary Science is a flagship project of the Irish Government’s Discover Science & Engineering awareness programme.It facilitates teacher training in general primary science and provides teachers with online resources and classroom activity packs which can also be used by parents and...

.

Science Week 2007

Science Week 2007 took place between 11–18 November and the theme was "Surrounded by Science". The programme of events set out to illustrate that behind the everyday objects in our lives is a great inventor, scientist or engineer. This included a series of lectures which featured: Craig Johnston

Craig Johnston

Craig Johnston is a former football player who was one of the first Australians to make a major impact in the English game. He is remembered for his time spent with Liverpool throughout the 1980s...

, inventor of the Adidas Predator; Joe F. Edwards, Jr.

Joe F. Edwards, Jr.

Joe Frank Edwards, Jr., , is a former United States Naval officer and NASA astronaut.-Early life and education:Edwards was born in Richmond, Virginia, but considers Lineville, Alabama to be his hometown. He graduated from Lineville High School in 1976 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in...

, a former NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

 astronaut

Astronaut

An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....

 and Dr. Sheila Willis, Director of the Forensic Science Laboratory

Laboratory

A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...

.

2007 was the eleventh year of Science Week and saw an estimated 95,000 people attended lectures, exhibitions

Art exhibition

Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...

 and workshop

Workshop

A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods...

s throughout the country.

Science Week 2008

The 2008 Science Week took place between 11–16 November. The theme was 'Science – Shaping Our World' which celebrates the International Year of Planet Earth

International Year of Planet Earth

The United Nations General Assembly declared 2008 as the International Year of Planet Earth to increase awareness of the importance of Earth sciences for the achievement of sustainable development. UNESCO was designated as the lead agency...

.

The guest lecturers include Professor Aubrey Manning

Aubrey Manning

Professor Aubrey William George Manning OBE FRSE FIBiol is a distinguished English zoologist and broadcaster.-Life:...

, a distinguished zoologist and broadcaster, Gerry Johnston, director of Special Effects Ireland, Dr. Cynthia Breazeal

Cynthia Breazeal

Cynthia Lynn Breazeal is an Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she is the director of the Personal Robots Group at the MIT Media Laboratory...

, Associate Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

, Stephen Attenborough of Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic is a company within Richard Branson's Virgin Group which plans to provide sub-orbital spaceflights to the paying public, along with suborbital space science missions and orbital launches of small satellites...

 and Patrick Collison

Patrick Collison

Patrick Collison , is an Irish scientist and entrepreneur from County Limerick. He was the winner of the 41st Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in 2005 at the age of sixteen. He was also the individual runner-up at the 40th Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.-Early life:Patrick...

, Irish Young Scientist of the Year winner 2005. These can be viewed on YouTube.

Science Week 2009

Science Week 2009 took place between 8–15 November. The theme was 'Science – Inspiring Creativity and Innovation’ which links to the European Year of Creativity and Innovation.

In the summer of 2009, DSE launched a Twitter page for the latest news on Science Week.

During Science Week 2009 there was a lecture series which included speakers from the Tyndall National Institute

Tyndall National Institute

Tyndall National Institute in Cork, Ireland named for John Tyndall, scientist, is one of Europe's leading research centres, specialising in ICT hardware research, commercialisation of technology and the education of next generation researchers...

, Cork and Sustainable Energy Ireland. These can be viewed on YouTube.

External links

• Forfás website
• Science Week Ireland website
• Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment website
• Information about Science Week on Discover-Science.ie - Irish science news, events and links on Twitter