Pint of Science Festival brings science to your local pub

Founded in 2013 by Dr Michael Motskin and Dr Praveen Paul, the Pint of Science Festival endeavours to bridge the gap between the public and the work that scientists do, by allowing researchers and academics to share their knowledge and expertise. Taking place in over 300 cities all across the world, in 2018 the festival finally reached Coventry. Hosted in five different venues over three days, the Coventry Pint of Science Festival welcomed 38 speakers delivering 35 incredible talks.

For the price of a POP! ticket you could get yourself access to an evening’s worth of talks on fascinating topics, ranging from driverless cars and nano-technology to antibiotic resistance and the mysteries of the human brain. There were diamonds, fruit flies and, believe it or not, Napoleonic theatre, and that’s not even half of what was covered!

There were diamonds, fruit flies and, believe it or not, Napoleonic theatre, and that’s not even half of what was covered

Events like Pint of Science really help to increase the accessibility of science to the general public. It’s talks like these that can open up the world of research and academia, which can often only feel inclusive to those ‘smart enough’ to enter, to people who may not have studied science since their childhood. It can increase the understanding of what’s involved in scientific research through means as simple as people’s curiosity and a few hours of their evening.

Speaking at the festival was a new experience for a lot of the academics too – some of them are used to giving inter-departmental talks or lecturing to students (even A-level classes), but this festival provided the novel opportunity of presenting their research, and the motivation for all their hard work, to a completely fresh audience. This came more naturally for some speakers than others, as is to be expected, but even if the audience couldn’t understand some of the finer points of the topic at hand, it was clear enough to see the speaker’s passion and enthusiasm for what they do.

It’s talks like these that can open up the world of research and academia, which can often only feel inclusive to those ‘smart enough’ to enter, to people who may not have studied science since their childhood

Over the three days I spent as volunteer venue manager for the festival, I was based in the Shop Front Theatre space in Coventry city centre.  It’s a wonderful space, founded nine years ago and run by Chris O’Connell and Julia Negus ever since – its casual and comfortable atmosphere really helped to emphasise the point of the festival, to bring science to the people in a friendly and creative manner. As much as the Pint of Science festival relies on the academics to volunteer their time to deliver talks, it also relies on local venues to open their doors to the public in aid of this fantastic cause.

At its close, the first Coventry Pint of Science festival was a success, with venues near to capacity on most nights, with some events even entirely sold out! Hopefully, the festival will return next year with an equally, if not more intriguing, programme of events to awaken the scientific curiosity in us all.