Science Week Ireland aims to improve public awareness

Science as you have never seen it before comes to a town near you as Science Week Ireland gets under way this weekend. More than 150 events are planned during the week, which is organised by Forfas and intended to improve the public appreciation and awareness of science.

The Minister of State for Science, Technology and Commerce, Mr Noel Treacy, yesterday formally initiated this year's Science Week Ireland programme of events. His goal, he said, was to encourage better public understanding of science's contribution to Irish society.

"I would like to see science and technology becoming part of our culture, like the arts and sport," he said at a function in Dublin. There were three times as many events scheduled for the week as during the inaugural week in 1997. This demonstrated a "willingness on the part of the research, scientific and technological community to engage with the public" and also showed there was "now a public appetite for science and technology, like never before, in this country".

The week's events, which begin on Sunday and run until November 8th, include public talks, demonstration lectures, displays at museums and family entertainment programmes. Universities and institutes of technology around the State will open their doors to visitors and will offer tours and lectures. RTE is also launching its new Big Science television series and will air a Future Tense Science Week special on Radio 1. Galway will also hold its own science festival.

Mr Treacy gave a strong indication, however, that the programme would continue to receive support. "I believe that an awareness programme like this is not a finite activity, but must continue to be developed, refined, improved and targeted at areas of weakness in the system," he said. A successful week would "strengthen my hand in convincing my Government colleagues of the need for and importance of its continuation".

There are Science Week Ireland activities taking place all over the State. Forfas has opened a special website which provides information about all the events on offer. It is available at http://www.forfas.ie/st/stap.htm