All you need to know about Science Week 2020

What is Science Week?

Science Week is an event held every November in Ireland. Its objective is to promote popular interest in science during a whole week of events and workshops. This year’s 2020 is the 25th anniversary of Science Week, and its goal is to offer a range of opportunities for the public to engage with STEM across Ireland.

From November 8th to 15th we will be able to witness more than ever the power of science, and how its application manages to connect the world. The challenge of this Science Week is to transform your activities to brand new digital, virtual and blended formats. With the main theme “Science Week-Choosing our Future”, focusing on how science can improve our lives in the future, but also in the present, reducing negative human impacts on the earth and on their own lives. Climate change has not gone away, and now society has had to unite and face the coronavirus disease, COVID-19.

Science Foundation Ireland: its goals

It is supported for the most part by the Science Foundation Ireland, which promotes and assists the development and competitiveness of industry, enterprise and employment in Ireland. It does so from the Basic Research, that will produce a broad base of knowledge that is likely to form the background of future solutions to problems or possibilities; and the Applied Research which is necessary a specific study to acquire knowledge and is directed primarily towards a specific practical aim or objective. Furthermore, as we have mentioned before, it also promotes and supports the awareness and understanding of the value of STEM to society.

In this way, Science Foundation Ireland is calling on the Irish public this Science Week to share your experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and participate in a mass public debate. This debate aims to discover what specific areas we need to work on in the future to fix those that have been neglected during this pandemic. The Choosing our Future Public Forum will be launched on RTÉ today, November 10th at 8pm and ends on Friday, November 13th at 4pm.

How to get involved?

Throughout Science Week there will be a variety of ways for people to get involved as an educator, parent, scientist, business, agency or association:

Visit schools and talk about career possibilities
Profile an employee with an interesting science/technology career
Invite your local community to an open day at your organisation
Organise an exhibition of your products or processes
Organise a display with hands-on activities
Host a professional day for second-level students
Sponsor prizes for school contests
Sponsor or host a lecture series
Bring your children to a Science Week Ireland activity in your area
Organise a special science, engineering and technology assignment for students
Organise a trip to a museum
Organise a science-fiction film night

Festivals 2020

Each region prepares a festival each year, with the intent to organize events that celebrate science and research in the community. This is the list of the following festivals taking place this year, most of them virtually: