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46-576: 51°53′24″N 2°04′41″W  /  51.890°N 2.078°W  / 51.890; -2.078 Cheltenham Science Festival is one of the UK's leading science festivals , and is part of Cheltenham Festivals : also responsible for the Jazz , Music and Literature Festivals that run every year. The 2018 Cheltenham Science Festival (6–11 June) was held in Imperial Square, Cheltenham. The youngest of

92-463: A Christmas stage show with performances from comedians, musicians and scientists. Ince started his television career as a comedy writer, working on The 11 O'Clock Show , for which he also performed as an impressionist , including an impersonation of John Peel . He also appeared in The Office as failed interviewee Stuart Foot. The second Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People stage show

138-598: A cafe, the Festival Box Office, bookshop and Talking Point became a focal point for activity, where people could spend time when not in events. For 2013, the introduction of the MRC Helix Theatre and return of the GE Pavilion for its second year marked even further growth in the development of the festival. Celebrating the 11th Cheltenham Science Festival, the theme is 'RE:Generation', "With

184-497: A new type of spring event for which he coined the phrase 'science festival'. Reaction was mixed, with some organisations doubting whether science could be packaged in an arts format. Even so, the city put resources behind the idea, appointing a director and project team, and in April 1989 the first Edinburgh International Science Festival took place. Edinburgh's success led to the development of science festivals in many other parts of

230-484: A science festival comes from the city of Edinburgh in 1989. The choice of Glasgow as European Capital of Culture for 1990 took Edinburgh by surprise and stimulated it to rebrand itself as a city of science, building on the success of a series of big urban developments led by its Economic Development Department. A senior member of the development team, Ian Wall, proposed that Edinburgh should highlight its new image by complementing its world-famous autumn arts festival with

276-1049: A science festival in Pittsburgh (the SciTech festival; from 2005 on known as the SciTech Spectacular), and new science festivals have been held in Cambridge, Massachusetts (the Cambridge Science Festival , first held in April 2007); and in New York City (the World Science Festival held at the end of May 2008); and in March 2009, San Diego hosted the first west coast science festival, the San Diego Science Festival founded by Larry Bock. As of 2009

322-457: A way that engages the general public, not simply scientists etc. who already have technical or specific knowledge on the area. This point is taken into account by the judging panel, usually science communicators themselves, who assess the communicators on clarity, content and communication before deciding whom to put through to the next round of competition. Famelab has regional heats in its participating countries, followed by national finals and then

368-651: A whole host of linked events from nerve regeneration to business regeneration through science." There have also been invited comedians like Robin Ince . This year marks an expansion of its adult focussed AREA 42 interactive zone and new collaborations Including: One of the Festival Partners is Chosen Hill School , the first secondary school to ever sponsor the festival. Some of the major topics for 2008: A larger main area, two days of free outdoor activities, and more external events around Cheltenham. Also new -

414-821: Is Wonderfest , an annual Bay Area science festival that began in 1998. Additionally, the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science includes a number of public events. Focusing on one particular science, the physics festival "Mastering the Mysteries of the Universe", was held in Atlanta , Georgia, in 1999 in association with the centennial of the American Physical Society . Since 2004, there has been

460-877: Is an atheist and supports the Rationalist Association via New Humanist magazine by organising events at the Bloomsbury Theatre and at the Hammersmith Apollo featuring scientists, musicians and comedians. The first of these was Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People in Christmas 2008, and more recently he has fronted a Night of 400 Billion Stars . Regular contributions come from Josie Long , Chris Addison , Ricky Gervais , Richard Dawkins , Simon Singh and Philip Jeays . In 2009, Ince organised two events with Josie Long, called Darwin 's Birthday Spectacular , marking both

506-575: Is an annual festival in central Gothenburg , Sweden with thought provoking science activities for the public. The festival is visited by about 100,000 people each year. This makes it the largest popular science event in Sweden and one of the largest popular science events in Europe . The spread of science festivals within the United States is relatively recent. One of the earliest examples

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552-513: Is the interaction of science and culture, including the arts. Generally speaking, science engagement can be separated into three orders of engagement. Irwin's conceptional 'third-order thinking' model defines 'first order' engagement to merely promote science learning, and the overall awareness and interest of science. The 'second order' of public engagement describes two-way 'dialogue', where both experts and laypeople can learn from each other by exchanging knowledge and valuable information. Connecting

598-884: The Cheltenham Festivals , the Cheltenham Science Festival was first held in 2002, and has quickly grown to become one of the most significant of its kind in the UK. The guest directors for Cheltenham Science Festival 2017 are television presenter and actor Dallas Campbell and former NASA Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan . The Festival has attracted many significant names in Science over the years, including Robert Winston (the first 'guest director' in 2004), David Puttnam (Director 2005), Jonathon Porritt (Director 2007), Adam Hart-Davis , Susan Greenfield , Richard Dawkins , Lucy Hawking , A. C. Grayling , Tony Robinson and Richard Hammond . In 2014

644-598: The Labour Party leadership election . Ince staged a stand-up tour, Pragmatic Insanity , in September 2017. In 2005, Ince began running the Book Club night at The Albany, London, where acts were encouraged to perform turns of new and experimental material. The club got its name from Ince's attempts to read aloud from – and humorously criticise – various second-hand books which the audience and he had brought in for

690-662: The 'Talking Point' - a place to continue debates and discussions inspired in events. The year 2008 saw the creation of SciFest , the International Science Festival , held in St Louis USA. This Science Festival was set up as a collaboration between Cheltenham Festivals and the St. Louis Science Center , in St Louis, Missouri, USA; and is run in a similar way to the UK festival on which it is based. Some of

736-661: The Cheltenham Science Festival in the UK. It is fairly common in Famelab competitions that a Famelabber may not originate in the country they represent at the international finals, such as Bechara Saab (originally from Canada), who was the first to represent Switzerland at the International Grand Final, and Didac Carmona (originally from Spain), who represented Austria and won the International Grand Final in 2012. Famelab International 2014

782-549: The Cosmic Genome , an online video based science magazine and archive. Ince acts as host and co-producer on the project. Contributors have included Brian Cox , Helen Czerski , Stephen Fry , Chris Hadfield and Stewart Lee . In 2017, Ince co-founded the Cosmic Shambles Network with Trent Burton, an organisation that creates podcasts, documentaries and events "for people with curious minds". Ince

828-585: The DVD and has often appeared in Gervais' video podcasts. In 2008 Ince had a residency at the Dorchester Arts Centre, trying out new material for his upcoming shows. In late 2008 he released a live stand-up DVD entitled Robin Ince is as Dumb as You , released by Go Faster Stripe . Then between January and April 2009, Ince performed his UK tour Bleeding Heart Liberal , playing 51 dates. Towards

874-547: The Discover Zone. Billed as 'Interactive Science for all ages', it is a free interactive exhibition space that takes up the main space of Cheltenham's Town Hall . FameLab was set up in 2005 by Cheltenham Science Festival in partnership with NESTA . In Famelab, contestants give short (maximum three minute) presentations unaided by slides on an area of science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) that they have been researching. They aim to give their presentation in

920-648: The Edinburgh Festival where Eddie Izzard was running a venue. At the time Ince was performing in a play called 'Shadow Walker' by Trevor Maynard. He had appeared at the Cafe Royal as part of the Edinburgh Fringe show 'Rubbernecker' alongside Stephen Merchant , Jimmy Carr and Ricky Gervais in 2001. As a friend of Ricky Gervais, Ince opened as a support act for his Politics tour in 2004 and his Fame tour in 2007. He also appears on

966-572: The Everyman was not used and instead The Arena, a large marquee built on gardens outside the Town Hall, was introduced which was used as the venue for the more popular events. The Cheltenham Science Festival is one of the four festivals that Cheltenham Festivals run each year. Combined with the Jazz , Music and Literature Festivals, Cheltenham Festivals host over 700 events across 12 months. Science festival The modern concept of

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1012-614: The Science Festival Alliance, a consortium of major festivals formed with a 3-year NSF grant, has supported the growth of independent regional science festivals, with an initial emphasis on celebration in communities throughout the US. In September 2010, the North Carolina Science Festival became the first statewide science festival in the United States, presenting more than 400 events across

1058-613: The USA via NASA , 29 of which participated in international finals in June 2015. The International Grand Final at the Cheltenham Science Festival in June 2015 was streamed on the internet throughout the world. At Cheltenham Science Festival the International Finals of Famelab consist of three international semi-finals where judges listen to the three-minute presentations from the international finalists, then ask them questions about

1104-589: The comedy scene and a wish to spend more time with his son. He concluded "Let's see if I can give up stand up for longer than I gave up whisky, or if the addiction is such that I'll start busking jokes outside the Hayward Gallery by August." He returned to performing comedy a year later. In September 2016, Ince performed at the Keep Corbyn rally in Brighton in support of Jeremy Corbyn 's campaign in

1150-416: The conceptional tools to understand scientific development in different areas of science. In addition, festivals are often perceived to be more open and honest about uncertainties in the nature of scientific processes compared to the 'ready made' contents from some public relations end of science engagement. Existing research does not always focus enough on the need to complement impact evaluation research on

1196-456: The effectiveness of science festivals with insights about visitor perspectives. Most attendees already share a significant interest in science or self-report that they are culturally active in general. Jensen and Kennedy suggest that science festivals face challenges in terms of reaching out to as wide a public as possible, being much more inclusive to the actual population. To foster socio-economic inclusivity, science festivals should be brought to

1242-465: The end of 2009 and into 2010, Ince toured his next show entitled Robin Ince vs. the Moral Majority . In 2011 he started on the road again, performing his 'Happiness Through Science' UK show, which continued to add many dates and was extended into 2012. In April 2015, Ince made a blog post announcing his retirement from stand-up comedy, writing about impostor syndrome , the commercialisation of

1288-400: The guest directors were BAFTA winning naturalist Steve Backshall and radio and TV presenter Richard Bacon . The Cheltenham Science Festival aims to engage in entertaining, challenging and deliberately discussing controversial issues and experiences. The 2017 programme contained over 140 events across six-days, including a number of dedicated family events. A main feature of the festival is

1334-488: The international finals taking place every year at Cheltenham Science Festival. In 2007, the competition was adopted by the British Council as one of its flagship science engagement projects, first as a South East Europe pilot. By 2010, Famelab expanded to include 14 nations across Europe, Asia and Africa, setting the stage for a growing global phenomenon. In 2015 the competition operated in 30 locations including

1380-470: The major topics for 2007: No named Guest Director. The ExperiTent was introduced this year which was used for hands-on workshops aimed at schools and families. This year saw the introduction of a Guest Director who programmes events related to their area of interest and expertise. The first two years saw events taking place in the Cheltenham Town Hall and the Everyman theatre. This year,

1426-564: The occasion. The Book Club proved to be so successful that Ince took it on a full UK tour in 2006, the same year he won the Time Out Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy. In 2010, Ince published a book entitled Robin Ince's Bad Book Club about his favourite books that he has used for his shows. Ince has curated Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People (later renamed Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People ) since 2008,

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1472-1053: The public through new creative ways, such as school visits - reaching diverse audiences with increasingly diverse backgrounds and previous interest in science. Robin Ince Robin Ince (born 20 February 1969) is an English comedian, actor and writer. He is known for presenting the BBC radio show The Infinite Monkey Cage with physicist Brian Cox , creating Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People , co-creating The Cosmic Shambles Network, and his stand-up comedy career. Ince attended York House prep school , near Croxley Green in Hertfordshire, and Cheltenham College , an independent boarding school for boys. He then studied at Royal Holloway, University of London , from which he graduated in English and Drama in 1991. In 1990, Ince first appeared at Greyfriars Kirkhouse at

1518-651: The results and the wider relevance of science. Recent years have seen the creation of a number of new science festivals as forms of public engagement. An umbrella organization for European science festivals and other science communication events, the European Science Events Association (EUSEA), was formed in 2001 and now has approximately 100 member organizations from 36 different countries. The concept spread to Sweden in 1997 with The International Science Festival in Gothenburg which

1564-625: The scientist's 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his book On the Origin of Species . He was appointed a patron of Humanists UK , and later of Dignity in Dying . On 15 September 2010, Ince, along with 54 other public figures, signed an open letter published in The Guardian stating their opposition to Pope Benedict XVI 's visit to the UK being a state visit . Ince has appeared at several science events, including

1610-468: The show included Book Club performers Josie Long , Howard Read and Natalie Haynes , comedy critics Bruce Dessau and Stephen Armstrong, and many others from the British comedy industry. He now presents Book Shambles with Robin and Josie with Josie Long which is funded via Patreon and music podcast Vitriola with comedian Michael Legge . In 2013, Ince co-created and launched The Incomplete Map of

1656-564: The state over a two-week span. The second NC Science Festival was held April 13–29, 2012, and the festival is now an annual event. Morehead Planetarium and Science Center at UNC-Chapel Hill founded the North Carolina Science Festival and continues to administer it. In late October 2010, the USA Science and Engineering Festival was the "country’s first national science festival". This national emphasis

1702-700: The summer of 2022 he presented a two part BBC Radio 4 series " Robin Ince's Reality Tunnel " exploring the internal and external aspects of reality. This was an edited version of a live performance given in Hulme, Manchester in April 2022 With Brian Cox and Alexandra Feachem : Ince presented the Utter Shambles (previously Show & Tell ) podcast for Paramount Comedy with Josie Long , and presented BBC Radio 4 Extra 's Serious About Comedy from 2005 until its end in November 2007. Regular panellists in

1748-496: The topic of the contestant's talk before deliberating on which scientists to select for the international final, held at the end of the festival in the 800-seater Arena. Former Material World radio presenter Quentin Cooper was compere during the final. Over 4,000 young science communicators (" Famelabbers ") have participated in Famelab competitions in their home countries, about 100 of which also represented their home countries at

1794-453: The variety of different engagement forms. Compared to science broadcasting, festivals allow visitors to engage in discussions with experts about more complex topics. This enables visitors to dive deeper into science, benefitting from their immediacy and interactivity, while scientists get the chance to enthuse them about their work and connect to a non-expert audience. Far beyond just conveying information, science festivals provide visitors with

1840-534: The wider social context of techno-scientific advancements to social needs in defining a 'third order' of engagement, involving pluralistic debates and discussions on how science can best serve societal needs. Science festivals are quite unique for the opportunity to combine diverse engagement formats, covering all of the previously mentioned orders of engagement in an informal setting. The strengths of science festivals lie in their unique role of creating strong and memorable impressions due to their time-limited nature and

1886-623: The world. The British Science Association restructured its annual meeting, originally established in 1831 as a discussion forum for scientists, to turn it into the British Science Festival of today. The town of Cheltenham —famous for its jazz, music, and literature festivals—added science to its portfolio with the creation of the Cheltenham Science Festival in 2002. Realizing the key importance of science festivals science organizations and funding bodies put ever more emphasis on outreach to foster public understanding both of

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1932-513: The year. A typical format for a science festival is to have a series of lectures, with topics ranging from cutting-edge research to unusual perspectives on science. For instance, the 2007 Edinburgh festival "Big Ideas" series included talks on what makes racing cars fast, the molecular basis of food preparation, the neurobiology of love and beauty , and the properties of quarks . Most science festivals include hands-on activities similar to those found in science centers . Another popular theme

1978-955: Was attended by more than 174,000 visitors. Science festivals feature a wide variety of events. As they offer an enjoyable setting with social interaction, visitors tend to develop increased interest in curiosity about science, and also value the opportunity to interact with scientific research through different forms of public engagement. Those can include conventional methods of science communication found in science museums and centres. Differing from them in their focus on current scientific research and their temporary nature. Because of this, science festivals have high amounts of volunteering scientists, university students, technologists and engineers. Science festivals are also aimed at playing an important, if informal part in secondary science education . Many have events specifically aimed at students or teachers, such as workshops or offering curriculum-linked workshops, and science shows to regional schools throughout

2024-583: Was based partly on encouraging local events to coincide with the major event in Washington DC. Festivals can vary greatly in size, scope, and their overall purpose. Involved partners may have different aims, methods, and motivations to participate and deliver such festivals. A university might stage a small festival in its hometown. On the other end of the scale, the 2006 British Association Festival of Science held on September 2–9 in Norwich , England,

2070-558: Was screened on BBC Four in 2009, billed as Nerdstock: 9 Lessons and Carols for Godless People . He co-starred with Mitch Benn and Alfie Joey in the BBC Radio 4 series Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music . Ince and physicist Brian Cox present the science series The Infinite Monkey Cage on Radio 4. The programme won a Gold Award in the Best Speech Programme category at the 2011 Sony Radio Awards . In

2116-534: Was won by Pádraic Flood, originally from Ireland, representing the tripartite Benelux. Also at the International Final two joint runners-up are announced as decided by the final judges, an audience winner voted for by the live audience in the arena via keypad is crowned and finally an alumni award is given to the winner of a worldwide online vote by juries in all the participating Famelab nations. The creation of The Times Science Hub, which incorporated

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