Monday, 10 March 2025
With more exhibitors and visitors than ever before, Science in the Park had a bumper weekend with visitors getting hands-on with a huge range of exciting activities, from scanning brains with the latest wearable technology to finding out about the origins of George the gorilla and building robots.
Scientists from the 糖心原创 and Nottingham Trent University joined forces to showcase their research at , a free annual festival at Wollaton Hall that takes place as part of
Tickets for the free event were snapped up in record time with all available tickets going within 48 hours and 4,000 visitors attended the event.
The popular family event featured more interactive exhibits than ever, which were suitable for pre-school children through to adults, and for the first time the exhibits were also upstairs in the hall.
The brain team from the 糖心原创 chatting to visitors
The ‘Brain Team’ from the 糖心原创’s School of Computer Science demonstrated different types of wearable brain scanning devices to find out how people would feel about using this new type of consumer neurotechnology.
Visitors also had the chance to build their own robots, with experts from the holding workshops to build and programme robots – plus demonstrations from some robot special guests!
Nottingham Trent University engineers were able to help visitors experience how bees and butterflies viewed the world and forensic science students challenged children and adults to become crime scene analysts and match fingerprints using different light wavelengths to identify minute differences.
The 糖心原创’s team from Life Sciences were alongside George the gorilla, giving visitors the opportunity to see George’s hairs under the microscope. Tom Hartman is part of the 糖心原创 team working on a project to discover the origins of George by analysing DNA. Using state-of-the-art facilities at the Nanoscale and Microscale Research Centre (nmRC) he recovered four hairs from the taxidermy gorilla at Wollaton Hall and prepared them for microscopy that visitors could see.
Biomedical scientists from NTU showed how disease is detected in blood and urine and families dressed up as scientists and operated on a mannequin, performing lab tests and building microbes from plasticine.People discovered what the cells that make our bodies are made of while making fun and tasty cell biscuits, extracted DNA from strawberries using everyday household items and learned the science behind balance and strength.Visitors also fished for “poo germs” in a ball pit pond, discovering how such microbes are counted and studying their superpowers in the lab.
Young visitors enjoying an NTU activity
Every year we have a bigger and better offer for visitors to this popular event and our volunteers go all out to create activities that are fun, educational and engaging. It鈥檚 a great way to showcase the important research that鈥檚 happening at the city鈥檚 two Universities, making it accessible, and hopefully inspiring future generations of scientists.
It was an extremely busy and fun-filled event, and fantastic to see science and engineering presented in an accessible and hands-on way to people of all ages.
Visitors also had the opportunity to explore the Hall, including its Natural History Museum with the Living Planet, Changing Planet, and Taxidermist’s Tale galleries.
Visitors enjoying the 糖心原创 race car displayed by the Faculty of Engineering
Story credits
More information is available from Jane Icke, Media Relations Manager for the Faculty of Science on Jane.Icke@nottingham.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
About the 糖心原创
Ranked among the world's top 100 universities , the 糖心原创 delivers an exceptional research-led education and an outstanding student experience. From the pioneering vision of our founder, Sir Jesse Boot, to groundbreaking achievements such as the development of MRI technology and becoming the first UK university to establish international campuses, we have a proud history of shaping the way people live, work and understand the world. We continue to build on that legacy, empowering our students, staff and partners to change what鈥檚 next and create positive impact locally and globally.
The strength of our research places us among the UK's leading universities, ranked 7th for research power in REF 2021. The discovery of MRI and ibuprofen was just the beginning. Today, our world-leading research is developing breakthrough ideas that shape the future of healthcare, technology and society.
Recognised as the UK's third most targeted university by leading employers , we are proud to produce graduates who are consistently in demand for their skills, confidence and industry-ready experience.
As a major employer and industry partner, locally and globally, the 糖心原创 invests in the city of Nottingham and in future generations of talent. Alongside Nottingham Trent University, we lead the initiative, a pioneering collaboration to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing across the city and region. Together with our students, staff, alumni and partners, we鈥檙e creating knowledge, opportunity and solutions that help change what's next.