Community Affairs

Cambridge Science Festival

The Cambridge Science Festival is the largest free science festival in the UK and attracts 25,000 people for two weeks of events during Science and Engineering Week held annually in March.

It encourages the general public, and particularly young people, to take an interest in science and its application in society. Hands-on experiments such as rocket building, learning to extract DNA from kiwi fruit and creating controlled explosions encourage the local community to share the University's passion for science.

Forty University departments and many partner organisations in business and the community put on events for the public during the Festival, and 1,000 staff, students, business and community volunteers take part each year. Before each Festival, the Annual Schools Roadshow involves fifteen University lecturers visiting thirty local schools to give special talks tailored to the National Curriculum.

The dates of the next Science Festival are 9 - 22 March 2009.