Universities Week 2014 launched today at the Natural History Museum in London where a week-long public event will showcase some of the best of UK university research.
Researchers from the university’s Cultural Informatics Research Group will join teams from 44 other UK universities represented at the Museum during the week. The exhibition will include research stations, pop-up performances, debates and live research demonstrations, covering a range of research themes.
The research team will be highlighting their work on 3D scanning and the digitisation of precious artefacts. The public will be able to see the world’s cultural heritage in 3D to reveal secrets from the past.
The week will be launched officially by the Universities and Science Minister David Willetts MP at the Natural History Museum.
As well as the week-long exhibition at the Natural History Museum, there will be a range of other activities taking place across the UK as part of Universities Week 2014, to promote and engage the public with the value and importance of university research.
Professor Julian Crampton, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Brighton, said: “Universities Week 2014 is an excellent opportunity to highlight how the work going on in our universities has an impact on people's everyday lives. It is also a chance for academics to engage with the public, bringing their research to life and hopefully inspiring people to go away and find out more about a topic.”
Nicola Dandridge, Chief Executive of Universities UK, said: “The aim of Universities Week is to inspire the public about the world-leading research taking place in our universities.
“Led by some of the top researchers in the UK, the event at the Natural History Museum will be a fantastic showcase event for UK higher education. By hosting this free-to-attend and high-profile event, we hope that members of the public will be inspired and will leave having learned something new about how universities are helping to solve some of the UK’s, and world’s biggest challenges.”