A Pint of Science, Please: The New Science in Pubs Initiative

Innovation and progress are at the core of any scientific movement, and Pint of Science is no different. This festival was created to make science more accessible to the public, or to simply ‘switch on’ their scientific curiosity.

Dr Michael Motskin, who is a nano-biologist, and Dr Praveen Paul, a neuroscientist, met when they were both research scientists at Imperial College London. After realising that people were interested in meeting scientists, they opted to take the scientists out of the lab and put them in pubs instead. This means audiences can now attend lectures on astronomy, neuroscience, anthropology, and many others, over a few beers or pie, and in the company of friends.

Pint of Science is a non-profit organisation that takes place in several countries besides the UK, like Spain and Australia, and it’s on its third consecutive year. It’s run by volunteers and, besides lectures, it includes events like puzzles, quizzes and scientific experiments. People can then learn the more practical aspects of science, not just theories that might be difficult to apply in daily settings.

And the Prime Minister was also impressed. David Cameron, who thinks that ‘Praveen and Michael have found a brilliantly innovative way to take science out of the lab and show thousands of people how interesting science can be’, awarded them the Points of Light prize. This award is usually given to individuals who are making a difference in their communities by changing lives and inspiring others – which is what Dr Motskin and Dr Paul, with their contributions and innovative thinking, are doing.

If you are interested in attending these events, the next Pint of Science festival will swing by pubs in London, Glasgow and Nottingham, just to mention a few, and will take place on the 23rd, 24th and 25th of May 2016. Meanwhile, you can watch a short video about the initiative.

Events like these can shorten the distance between scientists and the general public, by removing the big stages and the formal settings. People are more likely to be interested if they can participate in debates and ask questions and, immediately after that, sit down with the speakers and talk about science a bit more while sharing a beer with them.

Science can take many forms, so it’s only fair that you learn it in many different ways as well. Wherever the science happens, here at Edulab we understand the importance of high quality laboratory consumables to the development of scientific research. If you have any questions or just need more information on what we do, don’t hesitate to contact us or give us a call on 01366 385777.