By Helen Laking
This year’s Glasgow Science Festival ran between 6th–16th June and hosted a range of events at multiple venues across the city. The theme for 2024 was “Glasgow‘s Transforming”.
The Glasgow Science Festival is supported and funded by the Scottish Government and the University of Glasgow. The programme of events brings representatives from universities, voluntary organisations and government bodies to communicate and celebrate Glasgow’s contribution to science and technology advancements: past, present and future.
People of all ages and backgrounds are invited to explore and engage in science, technology, engineering, art, maths and social science. This environment additionally enables researchers to engage with a wide public audience and convey how research can develop solutions for everyday issues.
The GCU SHIP team were at the Botanic Gardens situated in the stunning Kibble Palace running sessions on ‘Hand Hygiene and Antimicrobial Awareness’ on Friday 7th and Thursday 13th June.
We encouraged our young visitors to get creative by moulding bacteria of all shapes, sizes and colours, whilst considering where these bacteria might live, whether they were friendly or could be dangerous, and the likelihood of different bacteria living together in biofilm communities.
This led nicely on to our hand hygiene activity, where participants put their handwashing technique to the test using a fluorescent hand gel, then using an ultraviolet light glow box to observe whether any areas had been missed.
The SHIP group’s involvement in this year’s Glasgow Science Festival was part of Glasgow Caledonian University’s contribution in delivering community and public engagement activities that enable access to research and inspire the next generation of scientists.
To find out more about the SHIP team, head on to the GCU website, read the rest of our blogs and follow us on Twitter @SHIPGCU