Thinktank Lates

Thinktank Lates: Thurs Oct 24th, 7-10pm at Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum.

Deadline for expressions of interest in getting involved: September 8th, 2019.

The Public Engagement with Research (PER) team are thrilled to be collaborating with the Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum for our most ambitious museum Lates yet!

Following the success of the first two #LapworthLates we are stepping up our game to take research off campus, engaging with diverse new audiences in #ThinktankLates.

The event is taking place on October 24th, 2019 (7-10pm) over two floors of the museum, so the potential to get involved is enormous! Fantastically, entrance will be also free to the public – this normally costs £14 for adults! We are particularly keen to attract 18-30 year olds, but families and older adults are also most welcome to attend and activities should suit a variety of ages.

This #ThinktankLates event will also be the launch of the new MICROBOTS exhibit in the Futures Gallery. This exhibit has been put together by leads in the School of Mathematics following an internal competition we ran back in 2018. It’s going to be an exciting evening of science, art, education and entertainment, with a Halloween twist. Take a look at some of the pictures below from our last Halloween Lates to see what you can expect.

We are now looking for University of Birmingham researchers who want to get involved in sharing their research at our Thinktank X PERTeam Lates. You may be a seasoned public engagement pro with loads of experience or you may be wanting to try public engagement for the first time. You may even just want to volunteer in helping out on the night to get some experience. If you have an idea, no matter how small – just get in touch and we’ll work with you to make something out of it. All Colleges are welcome to showcase their research, no matter what discipline you are from.

We are looking for interactive demos, games, workshops or thought-provoking displays, as well as short (10 minute) talks aimed at a lay audience, as we find that these type of activities are what audiences tend to enjoy most i.e. opportunities to get stuck in with something themselves! We do not allow academic posters / poster boards for a variety of reasons, so please don’t ask us if they are OK to bring along.

If you want to carry out short talks or interactive public engagement activities at this event get in touch with Dr Caroline Gillett to discuss your idea by Sept 8th at latest: c.d.t.gillett@bham.ac.uk. All activities will be finalised from mid-September to provide time to pull a printed brochure together.

Priority will be given to those who get in touch first. If you need funding for activities you can apply for up to £250 and we can give you an answer within 2 weeks. Get in touch with us first and we can sense-check your plans and provide advice where needed.