QUB Hosts Events as Part of the 2026 Northern Ireland Science Festival
By Luke Collins
From the 11th to the 22nd of February, various locations across Northern Ireland hosted over 300 events, including workshops, tours, talks and screenings, offering something for everyone at this monumental festival. Entering its 12th year of hosting fun, interactive and informative events with world-class scientists from across the UK and Ireland.
The Northern Ireland Science Festival was established in 2014 and has grown to not only be Ireland’s biggest Science Festival but also one of the biggest in Europe. Their website states that they intend to celebrate the wonders of science, technology, engineering, arts and maths (I’m sure we all remember STEAM or STEM from school), and those who attended this year’s events, as well as the events over the last 12 years, would not have been disappointed. Their mission is to ‘inspire curiosity, spark conversations, and showcase how science shapes our world’. [1]
One of the main themes of this year’s festival was ‘Maps And Memories’, a 2-year community heritage programme celebrating 200 years since the first mapping survey took place on Divis Mountain, Belfast, which helped shape how we understand geography and landscaping. Many events celebrated the wonders of maps, such as a walking tour of the mountains itself hosted by mapping experts Keith Lilley and Ken Stewart and a conversation hosted by Lilley and Dr Frances Kane, both Queen’s lecturers, as well as UTV Presenter Joe Mahon.
The 11-day festival took place across Northern Ireland in Newcastle, Strabane and Enniskillen as part of the NISF on tour. These events included the Horrible Science Roadshow hosted by Nick Arnold, author of the Horrible Science book series and the school trip staple W5 on tour: Extreme Existence, in which participants can choose what animal they want to be and learn how they adapt to life under extreme conditions. Their events have managed to attract expert scientists to host events over the years, including Professor Alice Roberts, TV Personality Chris Packham and world-renowned scientist Brian Cox. The line-up of speakers for this year boasted an equally star-studded roster, including theoretical physicist Jim Al-Khalili, Ireland’s State Pathologist Marie Cassidy and Escape To The Chateau star Dick Strawbridge.
There were also many fun, all-inclusive activities such as learning coding with KUBO the coding robot, A LEGO Exhibition hosted by the Brick Guys NI, who tour their extensive set of LEGO and Science Sue’s Magical and Engineering Show. Many fascinating discussions were had about the weird and wonderful, such as V Is For Venom: Agatha Christie’s Chemicals Of Death, hosted by Kathryn Harkup, who has made a career out of discussing the science behind classic literature such as Frankenstein, Shakespeare and now Agatha Christie. She also hosted a discussion called Vampirology: The Science of Horror’s Most Famous Fiend, discussing the science behind vampires. Historian Andrew Johnston gave a talk on the famous body snatchers Burke and Hare, which took place in Burke’s hometown of Strabane, and there was even an event called Minecraft Rocks in which Dr Mike Simms discussed whether rocks in real life are as good as their video-game counterparts.
There were screenings of films such as The Wild Robot an Oscar-nominated animated tale of a shipwrecked robot who learns to adapt to life on a remote island, Oakwood a story about a woman who exposes safety violations at her local power plant starring Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell and Cher and legendary director Jean Luc-Godard’s masterpiece Alphaville which was a warning of a future in which humans would become subservient to technology as well as this year’s hit K-Pop animated musical K-Pop Demon Hunters. There were also more student friendly events such as the Fifth Element hosted by chef Gemma Austen whose five-course menu included a touch of McConnell’s 5 year old Irish Whiskey hosted at McConnell’s Distillery in Crumlin Road Jail, Tasting Notes hosted by broadcaster Peter Brown who combined the wonders of neuroscience and art with six award winning beers and the Science Trivia based ‘Not Quite The Mensa Quiz’ hosted in the Black Box Theatre.
There were fitness activities for the whole family, such as Paddle Back In Time, an award-winning kayak tour across the Strangford Lough, Ye Big Ride, a guided electric bike tour which, as it took place on Valentine’s Day, undoubtedly made participants fall in love with the Strangford Lough, as well as various walking tours. The science of music was also embraced with events such as Dreaming Of Rhythm, where scientists at the Clem Burke Drumming Project and professional drummers explained the science of drumming, Irish musician and DJ Graham Smyth performed his album ‘Music For Babies To Rave And Sleep To’, as well as explaining the science of electronic music at an event and a karaoke night. There were also serious discussions about many of society’s problems and how science can help fix them. These included a talk on the Causes and Consequences of Toxic Masculinity led by Queen’s Biological Science Lecturer Dr Paul Calpat a discussion on eating disorders in Northern Ireland, and Shocking: The Untold History Of Psychiatry And Homosexuality In Northern Ireland led by Dr Tom Hulme, a History lecturer at Queen’s University and my lecturer for Contemporary Britain.
Evidently, Queen’s University was central in organising the Festival this year as well as being a funder and partner of this Festival. In it’s 180th year, Queen’s hosted over 60 events and various Professors, Lecturers, Doctors and other Queen’s alumni played a pivotal part hosting many events. One of the most interesting events was called ‘Why Queen’s? Why 1845?’ which explored the history of the University itself hosted by three of Queen’s finest History professors; Professor Peter Gray, Dr Robyn Atcheson and the legend Professor Andrew Holmes. Another event celebrating the History of Queen’s titled Under Pressure discussed the life of Thomas Andrews a pioneering 19th century scientist who was Queen’s University’s first Vice-President, hosted by Dr Patricia Marr and Dr Kevin Morgan of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and historian Dr Tom Hartley, an honorary graduate of Queen’s.
Director of NI Science Festival, when discussing this year’s programme, stated, “Science isn’t just for labs. It’s in our history and culture. It’s how we understand the world around us, and that’s what we’re about at NI Science Festival. With events spanning archaeology to music and quantum physics, we’re here to open up a whole world of possibilities for audiences”. [2] I’m sure those who attended one of these events can have a fresh perspective on the wonders of science.
References:
[1] NI Science Festival. “About | NI Science Festival.” NI Science Festival, December 15, 2025. https://nisciencefestival.com/about/
[2] Business Eye. “Star-Studded Northern Ireland Science Festival Returns for 2026 – Business Eye.” Business Eye, December 22, 2025. https://www.businesseye.co.uk/news/star-studded-northern-ireland-science-festival-returns-for-2026/
