People across Morecambe and Lancaster are invited to join Lancaster University scientists for a chat in the pub.

Coming to Morecambe and Lancaster for the first time, Pint of Science is an inclusive international festival that brings scientific research to the general public.

The festival provides an informal space for researchers and members of the public to come together for open conversations about scientific knowledge and understanding in a relaxed environment.

Founded by researchers from Imperial College London, Pint of Science events were first held in 2012 in just three UK cities. Now after 10 years, Pint of Science 2022 will hit nearly 500 cities globally.

Morecambe and Lancaster’s three-day Pint of Science programme will involve accessible and fascinating talks from a diverse range of researchers at Lancaster University’s Faculty of Science and Technology – including from the departments of Chemistry, Engineering, Physics, Psychology and the Lancaster Environment Centre.

Audiences will be able to engage in interactive activities designed to provoke thought, and immerse themselves in the latest local scientific discoveries.

Miranda Burke, lead co-ordinator of Pint of Science Morecambe and Lancaster 2022 and LEC postgraduate researcher, said: “Making positive change is one of my main motivations for being a scientific researcher. I want to inspire, inform and especially, excite. We want to show that science isn’t all about data, graphs and long words. It is about fun, fascination and leaves you desperate to know more! Pint of Science festival is the perfect platform to achieve this.”

Pint of Science starts on Monday 9^th May at Popworld, at the Kings Arms in Morecambe for a diverse programme of talks within the theme of ‘Discover Earth’ by scientists from Lancaster Environment Centre.

The Crafty Scholar in Lancaster will host a night of matter, particles and the universe ‘Particles, Polymers and Periodicity’ on Tuesday 10^th May, and the finale on Wednesday 11^th May takes us on a journey in the human mind from gestation to adulthood in ‘Becoming Human’ at the Storey in Lancaster. All events take place between 7pm and 9.30pm across the three evenings.

Morecambe and Lancaster’s Pint of Science has been several years in the making. In 2020, Claire Holden and Katie Reeves, researchers from Lancaster Environment Centre, started plans to bring the festival to Morecambe and Lancaster. However, their programme had to be cancelled due to the global pandemic. Online events continued through 2020 and again in 2021 with ‘research on a post-it’ but in 2022, researchers and organisers are excited to finally be able to hold the festival in-person and in the pubs.

Dr Ali Birkett, from Lancaster Environment Centre, another organiser of Lancaster and Morecambe’s Pint of Science, said: “Pint of Science is a unique event for Lancaster and Morecambe. Where else can you hear fascinating and thought-provoking insights from experts across a range of areas from the cycles of the natural world, the search for dark matter, to our ability to identify fake computer generated faces from real people, all while sat in the pub enjoying a pint?”

Tickets are on sale now and are £5 per person. Tickets, and further details on the Morecambe and Lancaster Pint of Science events, are available from Pint of Science UK: https://pintofscience.co.uk/events/morecambe-lancaster

• Discover Earth: The science we need for the planet we want: Monday 9^th at Popworld, The Kings Arms, 248-250 Marine Rd E, Morecambe, LA4 4BJ
• Particles, Polymers and Periodicity: A night of pick 'n' mix science: Tuesday 10^th The Crafty Scholar, Church St, Lancaster, LA1 1LP
• Becoming Human: Wednesday 11^th at The Storey, Meeting House Lane, Lancaster, LA1 1TH

The events were organised by a team of 13 postgraduate researchers from Lancaster University’s Faculty of Science and Technology.

• Monday’s ‘Discover Earth’ event management team: Miranda Burke, Elizabeth Flint, Rachel Louise Gunn, Ruth Carter, Mark Hamilton and Kyle Weston (Lancaster Environment Centre)
• Tuesday’s ‘Particles, Polymers and Periodicity’ event management team: Philip Bond (Engineering), Max Taylor, Gabriel Bean and Mark Aleksiejuk (Physics) and Victoria Thompson (Chemistry)
• Wednesday’s ‘Becoming Human’ event management team: Elena Altmann and Didar Karadag (Psychology)