Meet DTU at Science in the City

At the Science in the City Festival, you can, among other things, take a look at some of the future technological solutions, taste DTU’s climate-friendly beer and have a 3D scan of your head. The festival is free and open to everyone.

This year, Denmark has been chosen to host the Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF) conference, which is both a scientific conference and a science festival that is open to everyone and aimed to stir curiosity and interest in natural sciences and technical sciences.

Science in the City
The organizers hope to welcome no less than 30,000 curious visitors, young and old alike, to the hip Carlsberg area during the festival, which will be buzzing with life, explosions and all kinds of science from Saturday, 21 June. For a short period of time, Denmark will be the world’s scientific epicentre—and DTU will, of course, be participating.

“At DTU, the ambition has always been to create research and provide knowledge for the benefit of society. And many of the future societal challenges will, to a large extent, require solutions provided by the technical sciences. DTU is currently an active contributor to solutions to well-known challenges such as the consequences of climate change, secure energy supply and food safety, and we provide world-leading research within a large number of these fields of research. Consequently, we have a natural obligation to increase knowledge and understanding of the technical sciences to the public at Science in the City," says Provost Henrik Wegner.

Tomorrow’s technologies
At the Science in the City Festival, 85 organizers from 20 countries will be offering a wealth of exciting events during the six-day festival. Under the heading ‘House of Future’, DTU has gathered a number of examples of what the future will bring in terms of engineering solutions to our local and global challenges.

You can, for example, learn how a family can produce energy from their waste, or donate your number of steps to research and win prizes. Researchers and students eager to tell about their work will be presenting experiments that probe new frontiers, and innovative inventions which can help to solve tomorrow's challenges.

The Science in the City Festival will also be hosting a Science Slam http://www.scienceinthecity.dk/da/artikel/lasse-rimmer-styrer-forskere-i-science-slam on Sunday, where DTU researchers are given ten minutes to pitch their research in a fun and easy-to-understand way to cause surprise and stimulate curiosity. In the DTU corner is the courageous Professor Henrik Bruus who will take on professors from CBS and the University of Copenhagen—and here the crowd is expected to be jeering and shouting.

By land, by sea
DTU’s large marine research vessel, Dana, is usually not open to the public. But on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 21-23 June, the ship will be moored at the Amalie Garden and invites everyone on board. Here, you can experience the ship and meet DTU researchers and students engaged in marine research.

On Dana, you can, among other things, take a guided tour of the ship and see the different laboratories, bridges, crew’s quarters, etc., experience the so-called Gastronomic Playroom and taste food from the sea (Sat.-Sun. from 11 to 4 pm) and learn about Dana’s recent journey to the Sargasso Sea to study eel. But you can also listen to and touch fish and otoliths (ear stones), experience plankton—also in 3D, oceanography, find out how to use seal deterrent devices on fishing gear and acoustic measurements for monitoring fish stocks.

It’s for kids
Last, but not least, DTU ScienceShow and other aspiring researchers from Aarhus University will form a national team during the festival to compete in the unofficial European Science Shows Championships. Fire, explosions, smoke and table tennis balls come together in an explosive cocktail. Perhaps worth a visit if you are bringing your kids?

Find the entire program at www.scienceinthecity.dk and download the official app for your smartphone. If you are using the app, the distance you cover during the festival will be included in a scientific research project, and you will, so to speak, be donating your steps to science!