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Bloomsbury Theatre
AGE 12+
It’s UCL versus UCL in the ultimate battle of the brains!
Join us in the Bloomsbury Theatre to see a team of UCL alumni and University Challenge veterans take on a team of some of the university’s top academics. Captains Professor Sophie Scott (“unbecomingly competitive”) and Katie Bramall-Stainer (“the hard taskmaster”) will be given their starters for 10 by quizmaster Professor Peter Rees (last seen on the Bloomsbury Theatre stage dressed as a nun).
There’s everything to play for and you may not confer…
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Gustav Tuck Lecture Theatre
AGE 12+
Advances in cosmology led to the surprising discovery that normal matter makes up only 5% of our universe, while more than 25% is made up of an unknown substance called dark matter. The hunt for dark matter, its role and distribution in the universe and possible particle nature is currently ongoing. Dr Andreas Korn gives an overview of this exciting endeavour spanning astro and particle physics, highlighting current UCL research at the Large Hadron Collider, direct detection experiments and future LSST telescope.
No Booking Required
Darwin Lecture Theatre
Adults
Brexit has dominated British politics for the past three years – triggering acrimonious debates about who wants what and why exactly, how the UK government and parliament propose to achieve it, and what the courts have to say. By contrast, yet again, we all too often lose sight of the EU’s position, its political aims and its structural constraints. Yet it always takes two to tango. From the ins and outs of Article 50 to the Irish backstop: why have reached the current impasse – and is there any way it can be solved? What could future relations between the EU and the UK look like? And what happens if we leave without a deal? The European Institute, UCL’s hub for research on all things Europe, fields a panel of expert commentators to bring their views to the discussion and answer questions from the audience.
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Cruciform Lecture Theatre 2
AGE 12+
Midnight, Rome, April 1949. Otto Wächter, a senior Nazi on the run, indicted for mass murder, arrives at the city’s Central Station. He hopes to make a new life, with support from the Vatican, to make his way to Syria, or Argentina on the ex-Nazi escape route known as the ratline. Three months later he is dead, in mysterious circumstances. In his critically acclaimed BBC podcast, “Intrigue: The Ratline”, lawyer, broadcaster and UCL Professor Philippe Sands draws on a remarkable trove of documents provided by Wächter’s son Horst – diaries, reminiscences and letters, including between Otto and his wife Charlotte. He traces Wächter’s final days in the Eternal City, alone and in agony. Part Nazi love story, part noir detective thriller, Philippe revisits the events that overwhelmed Wächter, a series of remarkable twists and turns, encounters with Cold War spies, American recruiters, prelates, Nazis and sympathisers. He discusses the podcast with the Hugh Levinson, the head of BBC Radio Current Affairs and the editor of The Ratline – along with questions of justice, impunity and the power of family loyalty.
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Main Quad
ALL AGES
Some of UCL's best female scientists will stand on wooden crates and talk about their work in an engaging, non-lecture-y way, that will get everyone excited about science, from rockets, to soil, to bees and molecules! See www.soapboxscience.org for examples.
No Booking Required
Cruciform Lecture Theatre 1
AGE 12+
Mars is our closest target in the search for life beyond Earth. 3.8 billion years ago, when life started on Earth, Mars was habitable too. Mars now is cold, dry and harsh. Is there life on Mars? ESA’s ExoMars 2020 rover, named Rosalind Franklin after the DNA pioneer, may find out. It carries the UCL-led PanCam instrument to provide context. We will drill up to 2m under the surface to look for signs of past or present life.
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Main Quad Pop UPG01
AGE 12+
Hear from a range of today's UCL's talented entrepreneurs. What inspires them, where they are on their journey and the challenges they are facing.
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Darwin Lecture Theatre
ALL AGES
What is Paradise? Where does it come from? Is there a purpose to our lives? Come along and find out about the amazing origin and developments of everything around us. We will travel along the cosmic time line, from the very simple but still mysterious origin of the Universe, to the complexity and diversity around us today. What is life? Are are there any Aliens? By dealing with these questions, we learn about our fragile existence and our enormous responsibility towards preserving this earthly paradise and to live in harmony as a unique human family.
No Booking Required
12:30 – 13:00
Main Quad Pop UPG02
AGE 12+
Superbugs are on the rise and can increasingly cause dangerous infections and hospital outbreaks. In a short talk and interactive question and answer session they’ll describe some of our DNA detective work, using sequences from one of the most feared superbugs, during a highly drug-resistant outbreak. By analysing the DNA of these superbugs we could find out when the outbreak started, who went on to infect who and the unusual status of patient zero.
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Main Quad Pop UPG01
ALL AGES
Imagine touching at a distance… What would it feel like? What would it mean? Who and what could touch or be touched? Based on three years of innovative social research, InTouch will help you immerse yourself in the world of digital touch, from distance communication to using digital devices to manage complex emotions. Join us for an interactive talk of ‘Connecting, Communicating, Feeling through Digital Touch’, and visit our stand to try out emerging touch technologies and envisage their future.
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Cruciform Lecture Theatre 1
AGE 12+
Join UCL Mechanical Engineering for another engaging and entertaining research showcase – after our hugely popular Bloomsbury theatre show earlier this year. Hosted by Dr Paul Hellier, For the Love of Engineering (Redux) will be a unique fast-paced blend of short films, presentations and demos, giving you an accessible insight into today’s research - from detailed examination of ice cream to healthcare innovations - and tomorrow’s engineering wonders. You’ll experience why are all so passionate and excited about modern engineering. By the end of the show, you will be too!
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13:00 – 14:00
Main Quad Pop UP: 101
AGE 12+
Come along and hear Dr. Patty Kostkova (from UCL's IRDR Centre for Digital Public Health in Emergencies) share more about how we can use social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, to track the spread of harmful disease (even before the hospitals know about it!) and see some science in action as we demo some of the smartphone apps we have built.
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Pearson Building G22 LT
AGE 12+
Join UCL Geography's Professor Mark Maslin for an exploration of the science, history and politics of the Anthropocene, one of the most important scientific ideas of our time.
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Gustav Tuck Lecture Theatre
ALL AGES
A talk on the recent Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) result of the first black hole image. We work within the EHT collaboration and would like to talk about the centuries-long journey from theoretical entity to observational reality, and explain how the now globally-known black hole image was produced.
SOLD OUT
Pearson Building G22 Lecture Theatre
AGE 12+
Nuclear magnetic resonance is a remarkable field of science, using some of the strongest magnets in the country to probe the basic molecular makeup of matter. With a live video link to our magnet lab, come and discover how scientists at UCL and around the world are developing these techniques to diagnose disease, and make fundamental discoveries about how the complex molecular machinery within cells operates.
No Booking Required
Gustav Tuck Lecture Theatre
AGE 6+
In the future, WiFi will not be able to support internet connections at home because too many devices are connecting, reducing speeds. A complementary technology known as visible light communications (or LiFi) is being developed at UCL that solves this problem by embedding information into light emitted by standard LEDs faster than the eye can see. Everyone will have access to a personal gigabit-per-second link.
No Booking Required
Cruciform Lecture Theatre 1
Adults
Brexit continues to be the central controversy in British politics. Not only has it divided the public, it has brought key aspects of the UK constitutional settlement into doubt. Recent months have been dominated by stories of parliament seeking to "seize control' from the executive, and of a Prime Minister seeking to prorogue parliament to force through a 'no deal' Brexit – even bringing into question the role of the Queen. The Constitution Unit's work has focused on many topics central to the Brexit debates: including the conduct of the 2016 referendum, the prospects for a further referendum or a citizens assembly on Brexit, and the proper place and power of parliament.
This session will include a panel of expert commentators reflecting on recent controversies and possible ways forward, followed by audience discussion.
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Main Quad Pop UPG02
AGE 12+
Join UCL Institute of Mental Health for a live recording of the monthly UCL Mental Health podcast.
Having launched in the summer of 2019, the UCL Mental Health podcast is a monthly conversation around current topics in Mental Health with researchers, clinicians, service users and students.
This month’s topic will be around 'Innovation in children and young people’s mental health', in recognition of the theme for this year’s World Mental Health day taking place on 10th October 2019. Audiences will be able to participate in the conversation and put questions to the panel via twitter @UCLMentalHealth #MHpodcast
UCL Mental Health podcast is led by Institute of Mental Health, powered by UCL Minds. All podcasts are available on UCL Minds Podcasts soundcloud. https://soundcloud.com/uclsound
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Main Quad Pop UPG01
AGE 12+
Based on a range of research projects the Institute for Global Prosperity has carried out with the charity Catalytic Action and UCL Global Health in Bar Elias, in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, this event will consist of an introduction to participatory and visual research methods in sensitive settings. UCL will report on our experiences working with local researchers and young people recruited from the Lebanese, Palestinian, and Syrian communities and show films and photographs they have produced as part of their research. Next to highlighting the advantages of visual research methods, we will also reflect on the benefits of the citizen social science approach for both the local researchers who obtain new skills and the academic institutions that gain a much better understanding of communities’ experiences and needs.
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Darwin B40 Lecture Theatre
AGE 12+
A storytelling lecture about how we cope with climate change from the 'attractively impish' (Guardian) Dr Matt Winning. As seen as the Environmental Correspondent on Unspun with Matt Forde on Dave, BBC Three and BBC Radio 2.
‘Everything a Fringe show should be: hilarious, personal, inventive, and something that will stay with you for some time to come’ ***** (EdFestMag.com).
‘Winning’s sharp wit and intelligence allows him to educate as he entertains’ ****½ (Sunday Post).
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Main Quad Pop-Up: 101
Adults
Pain is a universal human experience but what happens when it doesn't go away? This interactive talk explains current understanding of chronic pain, its impact on the person and current research to help improve the lives of people living with pain.
No Booking Required
