Public Programme


We are delighted to offer a series of free events for members of the public to share in our excitement about our research. 

Date: Sunday 13 July
Time: 19:00 - 20:00
Location: Boyd Orr Building, Lecture Theatre 222, University of Glasgow

Dr Erin MacDonald Public Lecture - Spacetime in Star Trek 

Join LIGO alumna and current Star Trek science consultant Erin Macdonald for a journey in the applications of general relativity in science fiction. We will look at the presentation of warp drives and wormholes, as well as time travel, subspace, and all sorts of spacetime "anomalies". Erin will also share some of the specific storylines she has been involved in, and try to explain why the presentation of gravitational waves in Star Trek is less than ideal! Finally, she will also share how she ended up in this unique career path after leaving LIGO over a decade ago! 

We are very excited that Erin will be giving a public lecture the evening before the conference. Erin is a renowned science communicator, writer and scientific consultant, she did a PhD at the University of Glasgow on the detection of continuous gravitational waves from the Crab Pulsar, transitioning into science communication through multiple outlets including the YouTube channel Dr. Erin Explains the Universe she has also endeavored to bring scientific accuracy to Hollywood and worked as scientific consultant for Star Trek, and making cameo appearances. We are delighted to welcome Erin back to Glasgow for what will be a fantastic talk. 

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Date: Wednesday 16 July
Time: 19:30 - 20:30
Location: The Clyde Auditorium, SEC

Prof. Carole Mundell Public Lecture - From Earth to the Fabric of SpaceTime

Carole Mundell, the Director of Science at the European Space Agency (ESA), will be delivering a public lecture on the Wednesday evening of the conference. An undergraduate student at the University of Glasgow, Carole completed her PhD at Manchester University working at Jodrell Bank Observatory, after several prestigious fellowships, awards and founding an Astrophysics group at the University of Bath she joined ESA where she is now Director of Science. With such a fascinating career of research, communication and innovation where she has done it all from theory to observation and technology innovation covering the astrophysics of gamma-ray bursts, black hole formation, robotic telescope automation, amongst a long list, we are excited to hear what she has to tell us.  

The public lecture will be accompanied by an exhibition of educational resources and astrophysics demonstrations. Researchers attending GR–Amaldi from across the world will be bringing their favorite science demonstrations for the public to see, hear, touch and learn more about the complex world of gravity, astrophysics and gravitational waves. This exhibition will be in the entrance foyer before and after the public talk, so remember to arrive early. 

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Science and art exhibition   

During the GR–Amaldi conference, there will be a display of art inspired by the scientific topics of the meeting. This is predominantly the work of researchers in the field who are proud to share their creativity and to show that art and science are perfect companions. The art works will be available to view in a digital gallery during and after the conference. You may submit your work online

Science Ceilidh 

As part of the conference, we are very lucky to have The Science Ceilidh perform at the conference dinner. Science Ceilidh are a group of STEM communicators that use elements such as dance to bring science to public audiences not often reached by traditional outreach activities. 

At the conference we will experience the debut of ceilidh dances specifically created on the themes of gravitational waves, black holes and general relativity. Ceilidh dancing is a fantastically fun form of group dance traditional to Scotland, with no entry requirements for participating. The emphasis is always on having a good time. Attendees to the conference will take to the dance floor to become black holes spinning through space and time, and much more.  

We are excited by this new collaboration with Science Ceilidh and these special dances may be coming to a public event in the future so look out for the Gravitational Wave Ceilidh. Details will be found on social media and the Science Ceilidh website where you can also look at their other dances about astronomy and astrophysics. Please stay tuned for an opportunity to give the new ceilidh a twirl. 



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