World’s only Women in Science Festival returns to Dundee

Published On Mon 29 Feb 2016 by Roddy Isles

Dundee’s Women in Science Festival, the only event of its kind in the world, will next month bring authors, academics and entertainers come together to celebrate the achievements of female Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) pioneers.

Exhibitions, talks, film screenings, fun days and other events will take place across the city in March, and the festival is supported by many of the internationally acclaimed female scientists and researchers working at the University and other local institutions.

Women in Science 2016 will also highlight the many opportunities there are for women to pursue a career in science and related subjects.

Organiser Shabnam Wasim, from the University of Dundee, said, “Women in Science is a fantastic way of celebrating the successes of women and the exceptional work carried out by female scientists and women in other STEM subjects.

“Thanks to some truly exceptional female pioneers, more and more women are achieving great things in science. Despite this, studies have shown that fewer women with a STEM-related degree actually go on to work in the sector than their male counterparts. Dundee’s Women in Science Festival is aimed at encouraging more young women to get involved with science and then stay with it as a rewarding career choice.

“It is important that women working in science continue to act as role models and encourage young women to follow up on their interest in science and pursue careers in subjects that might have been traditionally dominated by men but that are now being enhanced by the involvement of women.”

Authors Emily Dodd and Lucy Hawking are among those visiting Dundee to take part in Women in Science. Emily will host two events on Sunday, 6th March. ‘The Grouse and The Mouse’ aims to teach youngsters aged 3-8 about the countryside and ‘Love You to the Moon and Back’ is a Mother’s Day family science show and workshop. Lucy will invite youngsters to ‘Explore the Universes’ on 19^th March through her books narrated by her father, the esteemed physicist Stephen Hawking.

Other highlights include ‘A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie’, which takes place at Dundee Rep on Monday, 7th March and coincides with the theatre’s performance of Christie’s ‘Witness for the Prosecution’.

The author used poison to bump off her characters more than any other murder method. Dr Kathryn Harkup, a chemist, freelance science communicator and Christie fan whose new book investigates the poisons her murderers used and how they killed, will talk about the subject on the Rep stage with the play’s set as a backdrop.

Women in Science 2016 takes place at venues across Dundee in March. The festival is organised by the University of Dundee with events in partnership with Abertay University, the James Hutton Institute, Dundee Rep,, Dundee Science Centre and the University of St. Andrews. The Festival is supported by the Wellcome Trust and the Biochemical Society

For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head of Corporate Communications
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
Tel: +44 (0)1382 384910
Mobile: 07800 581902
Email: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk