Hosted by the University of Bristol in the School of Chemistry, the event will provide teachers with an opportunity to work alongside leading scientific experts to learn more about their research and how to incorporate aspects of it into teaching.

Up to 100 teachers will be attending the event, with lectures presented by academics from across the University.  Lectures include ‘Earth’s climate, past and present', ‘Our place in space’, ‘How to detect the virtually undetectable in the atmosphere’, ‘Cystic fibrosis: from gene discovery to drug development in 20 years’, ‘The science of taste and flavour’ and ‘Investigating emotion in animals to develop new treatments for mood disorders’.

A number of workshops are also being held to provide teachers with hands-on experiences that they can take back to their teaching, such as ‘The human patient simulator’ and ‘An overview of some state-of-the-art research and activities in earthquake engineering for schools’.

Professor Dudley Shallcross, University of Bristol ChemLabS Outreach Director, said: “The Festival of Contemporary Science follows on from the success of a smaller-scale activity we held previously, and reflects just one of the many ways a forward-thinking university such as Bristol can support secondary-level education.”

The event, co-sponsored by the Triple Science Network, the Science Learning Centre South West, AIMS [The Applied and Integrated Medical Sciences Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning] and Bristol ChemLabS [Bristol Chemical Laboratory Sciences], is expected to become an annual event attracting teachers from the UK and abroad.