Feature Friday: National Science Week

It’s my favourite time of the year! The air is crisp, brains are a-buzzing, and you can practically smell it in the air that next week is National Science Week! This is basically Christmas for STEM nerds like me.

Who’s excited for National Science Week?? [image sourced from the @Aus_ScienceWeek Twitter]
National Science Weeks runs from 15-23 August, usually with events celebrating all things science all across Australia. This year, there has been some minor re-jigging to work in with lockdown, but National Science Week storms ahead online!

There are so many amazing events happening, which you can find here. The Faculty of Science here at Melbourne University has some awesome events planned, all of them are free! Click here to see their full program of events.

Here are a few of the awesome things happening next week!

Associate Professor Michele Trenti from The Faculty of Science will be talking about observations from distant galaxies to discuss fundamental questions of astronomy. Get this: because of the speed of light, observations from so far away are actually showing what they were in the past. Learn about this and more in Mid-Afternoon Masterclass: The most distant galaxies on Tuesday the 18th of August from 3-4pm.

Learn about astronomy and they way we see things from the past due to the speed of light in the Mid-Afternoon Masterclass: The most distant galaxies [image sourced from Eventbrite event]

Our very own Dr Jen Martin will be presenting in a few awesome events. One, which is almost too fitting to share here, will be the Mid-Afternoon Masterclass: Communicating about science on Wednesday the 19th of August from 3-4pm AEST. Jen will be presenting alongside Julia Cleghorn from the Faculty of Science on what it takes to give a prepare and present a great talk about science.

Want to brush up on what it takes to give a good talk about science? Tune in to the Mid-Afternoon Masterclass: Communicating about science [image sourced from Eventbrite event]

Jen will also be moderate an exciting discussion with Melbourne University Trust and knowledge: The role of universities in a crisis on Wednesday the 19 August from 5-6pm AEST.

Join Jen for an interesting panel discussion Trust and knowledge: The role of universities in a crisis [image sourced from Eventbrite event]

On Thursday Jen is also taking part in the ACEMS National Science Week Virtual Quiz from 6-7pm AEST. It will be an hour of fun and intrigue where the panelists will ponder some of science’s most interesting questions. You’ll also have the option to get your thinking caps on, test your knowledge and join the competition!

Test your knowledge with Jen and this awesome group of panelists in the ACEMS National Science Week Virtual Quiz [image sourced from ACEMS website]

Our friends over at Radio Sci-Lens are also having a special Science Week themed broadcast on Friday from 4-5pm. Tune in on the Radio Fodder website, or catch the replay on Soundcloud.

Catch the National Science Week special episode over on Radio Sci-Lens [image sourced from @RadioSciLens Twitter]

And Jen’s back at in on Saturday with the Let’s Torque STEM Grand final from 6-8:30 pm AEST! Let’s Torque Stem is an undergraduate science communication competition, where students will blow our minds with presentations covering all ranges of science, from space and astronomy, to health and the human body, to the environment, energy and agriculture. Jen has been chosen to be part of this year’s judging panel. Best of luck to all of the awesome students!!

Listen to amazing talks from undergraduate students as they compete in the Let’s Torque STEM Grand Final [image sourced from Twitter]

There are SO many, I mean SO MANY fabulous events happening next week, and I strongly encourage you to search the National Science Week Website to see more events happening! Also follow the National Science Week Twitter @Aus_ScienceWeek to get updates and join in on the hype.

– Written by Rosie Arnold

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