The fantastic annual Exhibition day will return to the University of Galway campus on Sunday 9th of November.

This unmissable day is filled with exciting exhibitions and workshops inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers. There will be fantastic interactive stands by world leading global companies, local universities, research centres and local primary and secondary schools. The Exhibition will also include over 20 educational and entertaining workshops and shows;  zoology workshops showcasing real tarantulas, snakes, scorpions and lizards to very excited children and much, much more for the entire family to enjoy.

The Exhibition itself is free to attend with tickets for individual shows and workshops released on Saturday 1st of November at 9am on Eventbrite.

Full Details: “The Science of Women’s Health”

This evening brings together leading experts in medicine, nutrition, breathing, fitness, and physiotherapy to explore women’s health through science-based insights and practical interventions.

We are honoured to welcome Professor Mary Ryan, Consultant Physician, Endocrinologist, and bestselling author of ‘It’s Probably Your Hormones’, who will share her expertise on hormones, heart health, and disease prevention. Patrick McKeown, internationally renowned breathing coach and author of The Breathing Cure, will guide us through the role of breathing and sleep in managing menopause symptoms. Anne Murray, founder of Sláinte Wellness, will present her evidence-based approach to nutrition and women’s health. Jessica Cooke, fitness coach and host of the I’m Done, Now What? podcast, will share her empowering strategies for lasting fitness and wellbeing. Finally, Orlaith Kilgannon, specialist physiotherapist and founder of Pelvic Health West, will explore the impact of hormonal changes on pelvic and muscular health.

Together, they will provide knowledge, tools, and inspiration to help women optimise health at every stage of life.

Welcome to My Moving Brain: Community Connect Event in Galway! Join us on Saturday, 1st November 2025 from 1:30 PM at O’Donoghue Centre (University of Galway Campus) for an inspiring and inclusive day for everyone!

The event is all about bringing the community together to share their insights, ideas and experiences around brain health and explore ways to remove barriers that may limit the opportunities for people living with brain conditions to participate in sport and physical activity.

Whether you are an individual or family living with a brain condition, sports coach or volunteer, member of a sports club, teacher, patient organisation representative, researcher or simply interested in hearing more about brain health and wellness, there’s something here for everyone.

Join us on a creative exploration of Nuns Island, an area layered with industrial and cultural heritage, much of it long quiet but brimming with potential for a vibrant sustainable future. Our guided walk activates spatial imagination through walking, talking, and creative exercises, inviting participants to observe, sketch, and reflect on how sustainability and community-led ideas can shape the spaces we share.

Through conversation, creative exercises, and generative AI technology, we’ll imagine future possibilities for the area. The ideas, stories, and images generated will contribute to a shared vision, exploring how creativity, local knowledge, and technology can come together to build more sustainable and resilient cities.

Facilitator: Lua Flannery

Sponsored by Research Ireland

Join us on a creative exploration of Nuns Island, an area layered with industrial and cultural heritage, much of it long quiet but brimming with potential for a vibrant sustainable future. Our guided walk activates spatial imagination through walking, talking, and creative exercises, inviting participants to observe, sketch, and reflect on how sustainability and community-led ideas can shape the spaces we share.

Through conversation, creative exercises, and generative AI technology, we’ll imagine future possibilities for the area. The ideas, stories, and images generated will contribute to a shared vision, exploring how creativity, local knowledge, and technology can come together to build more sustainable and resilient cities.

Location: The workshop begins at the Centre for Creative Technologies Studio, includes a walking tour through Nuns Island, and returns to the Centre at the end.

Facilitator: Lua Flannery

Sponsored by Research Ireland

Facilitator: Alaz Okudan

This workshop discusses the large-scale data collection practices that are used within AI models and explores alternative approaches that are small, slow, and intimate. While conventional large-scale methods extract online information without consent and operate invisibly within algorithmic black boxes, this workshop demonstrates that datasets can be thoughtfully sourced, manageable, and non-extractive.

The workshop invites Galway community members to identify what they find significant about their city and take a short walk on the university campus, collecting data through photography, writing, drawing, sound recording, found objects, or lived experiences. These materials will form a collective, human-scale dataset about Galway, fostering discussion about how small yet diverse datasets can create meaning and tell stories about the places we inhabit, showing that data need not be massive commercial collections beyond human comprehension.

Access and Inclusion: This workshop seeks to be inclusive and accessible. We welcome diverse ways of participating and will endeavour to accommodate mobility, sensory, and communication needs. Please contact [email protected] with any requirements to support your participation.

Facilitator: Alaz Okudan

This workshop discusses the large-scale data collection practices that are used within AI models and explores alternative approaches that are small, slow, and intimate. While conventional large-scale methods extract online information without consent and operate invisibly within algorithmic black boxes, this workshop demonstrates that datasets can be thoughtfully sourced, manageable, and non-extractive.

The workshop invites Galway community members to identify what they find significant about their city and take a short walk on the university campus, collecting data through photography, writing, drawing, sound recording, found objects, or lived experiences. These materials will form a collective, human-scale dataset about Galway, fostering discussion about how small yet diverse datasets can create meaning and tell stories about the places we inhabit, showing that data need not be massive commercial collections beyond human comprehension.

Access and Inclusion: This workshop seeks to be inclusive and accessible. We welcome diverse ways of participating and will endeavour to accommodate mobility, sensory, and communication needs. Please contact [email protected] with any requirements to support your participation.

Can Generative AI help us imagine a more sustainable world? Generating Futures brings together communities, artists, geographers and climate scientists to co-create visions of a sustainable future using the power of AI.

Facilitator: Hermano Luz Rodrigues

This workshop introduces participants to AI image-making tools for imagining the future of their public spaces. Participants will work with platforms that take text prompts and turn them into illustrations and realistic images. By reflecting on an existing environment and considering how it might or should change, they will create images of possible futures while also discussing how these technologies can impact society, both positively and negatively.

Access and Inclusion: This workshop seeks to be inclusive and accessible. We welcome diverse ways of participating and will endeavour to accommodate mobility, sensory, and communication needs. Please contact [email protected] with any requirements to support your participation.

Can Generative AI help us imagine a more sustainable world? Generating Futures brings together communities, artists, geographers and climate scientists to co-create visions of a sustainable future using the power of AI.

Facilitator: Hermano Luz Rodrigues

This workshop introduces participants to AI image-making tools for imagining the future of their public spaces. Participants will work with platforms that take text prompts and turn them into illustrations and realistic images. By reflecting on an existing environment and considering how it might or should change, they will create images of possible futures while also discussing how these technologies can impact society, both positively and negatively.

Access and Inclusion: This workshop seeks to be inclusive and accessible. We welcome diverse ways of participating and will endeavour to accommodate mobility, sensory, and communication needs. Please contact [email protected] with any requirements to support your participation.

This engaging 60-minute workshop invites children (ages 8–12) to explore biodiversity and imagine how humans and nature can thrive together. Through lively discussion, and hands-on creativity, children learn about Irish wildlife, habitats, and the importance of balance in ecosystems. Working in small groups, they build their own “mini worlds” from paper and cardboard—adding rivers, forests, homes, and wildlife, while considering how people can share space with animals and plants. The session ends with group sharing and reflection, helping children connect their creations to real actions they can take at home or school to support biodiversity.

The workshop is delivered by Lindsay Deely of Toodlelou Creativity Lab and Developed in collaboration with the Co-Centre for Climate + Biodiversity + Water.

To book:  email at [email protected] or by phone on (091) 532460

Biodiversity in our Backyards is a workshop for local children and families that invites participants to learn more about the natural habitats right outside their own back doors.

The workshop will hands-on science fieldwork with art creation, providing an opportunity to explore an area of the woods and to create a piece of temporal art that maps the local neighbourhood and environment. The aim is to empower participants to feel ownership and a sense of belonging in these spaces which are all of ours to use. This workshop will include a showcase of the artistic outputs created by from across Galway and is led by Baboró International Arts Festival for Children in collaboration with the Co-Centre for Climate + Biodiversity + Water.

This event is free of charge, but early booking is advised as places are limited. The workshop includes outdoor activities, so please dress for the weather.

For bookings, please email [email protected] or call (091) 532460.

 Suitable for families with children ages 7 to 12
(parents/guardians must remain with children for the duration of the event)

Family Day at Galway Atlantaquaria, in association with Galway Science and Technology Festival from 10-5pm

Join the aquarium team and friends to explore the past, present and future of the ocean and waters of Ireland. Explore our marine heritage and past, meet our animals and discover the habitats they live in, and consider the ocean and waterways of the future. Visitors will be to join hourly feeding tours and meet our team at activity stations around the aquarium.

Morning Session: Tour at 10am, 11am, 12pm

Afternoon Session: Tour at 2pm, 3pm, 4pm

Entry fee:  €7 per person (discounted for the Galway Science & Technology Festival)

Upcycling, Recycling, Permaculture, Renewable Energies, Zero Waste, Ecotherapy, Outdoor Classrooms, Active Travel, Greenways, Ecological Corridors and Biodiversity Restoration are all terms associated with sustainable development in the 21^st century.

Yet, these concepts were all part of the life of Galway and Ireland in times past. Join Brendan Smith in a guided walk through Terryland Forest Park to learn about the fascinating hidden histories that are now being reborn in one of the country’s largest urban native woodlands.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/sAtJtu1UsHQ7zc6a9

Brendan Smith has been providing Internet Safety and Cyberbullying Awareness sessions for pre-teens, teenagers, teachers and parents across Ireland since 2005. His talks cover topics such as the benefits of web technologies, an overview of the most popular media and gaming sites, how to counteract cyberbullying, online hate, fake news and misogny, phone addiction and sleep deprivation as well as an overview of control settings for popular apps and smart devices.

Dates

Parents: November 18th (evening). Suitable for a single school parents’ assocation site.

To Book: contact Brendan Smith at [email protected]

Computer & Communications Museum of Ireland

Open Day, 11am-2pm, Saturday November 22nd

The theme of the museum’s Open Day during the Galway Science and Technology Festival will be ‘The Future was Yesterday’ where the often hidden decades-old heritage of what we consider the latest cutting edge technologies will be revealed.
The general public are invited to visit this great national technology heritage facility on Saturday November 22nd to see such interesting exhibits as 19th century global communications in action,

• a sensor-based robot that took part in Galway city’s 1984 St. Patrick’s Day Parade,
• a 1970s AI-based table top chess set,
• a 1990s Virtual Reality headset,
• a 1989 Immersive Technology Game Glove,
• 1950s-1970s 3D image device and magazines,
• 1980s ‘remote working’ computing devices,
• the 1960s children’s Science Fiction device that inspired the mobile telephone,
• and a replica of the first telecommunication satellite (Telstar) to broadcast live global television (1962).

Learn too how school-going teenagers in Galway during the early-mid 1980s, before the invention of the World Wide Web, used what we now refer to as cloud computing, online dating and social media. Read the original 1950s/1960s children’s comics from the popular Marvel, DC and Eagle genre in which the stories of today and tomorrow were told yesterday (e.g. AI, robotics, benefits and darkside of technology, space travel, oceanic pollution, environmental damage).
There will also be on show a multi-screen Dashboard monitoring air quality at multiple Galway City locations as part of the council-led ‘The Air We Share’ project.

For further information, contact Brendan Smith at [email protected]

Celebrating Galway’s role in introducing Science into Ireland’s primary school curriculum

Under a project known as the ‘Fionn School Science’, 35 Galway city and county schools spearheaded the introduction of science into Ireland’s primary school currculum by making a series of highly informative, exciting and professional online child-centric science and technology videos during the period 2002-2005.

An unveiling of these remarkable films, which became a valuable online resource for schools nationwide over many years, will take place at 7pm on Monday November 17th in the Galway Education Centre. The topics of these films included air quality, table-top experiments, optics, the human circulatory system, geology, sustainable farming, biodiversity restoration, reforestation, waste management, pollution in Galway waterways, renewable energies and communications.

For four consecutive years, the Fionn schools also formed the major educational component of the annual exhibition of the Galway Science and Technology Festival.

Fionn was managed by the Galway Education Centre and its director from this period, Bernard Kirk, will be special guest at the November 17th event.

Should you or your school be interested in attending, please contact the Galway Education Centre at [email protected]

A special fun-packed coding workshop for children and families staying in Direct Provision will be hosted at the Insight Research Ireland Centre for Data Analytics in the University of Galway as part of the Galway Science and Technology Festival

Date: November 14th

Bookings: Contact Brendan Smith at [email protected]

This exhibition by Cassandra Bousquet features poetry with themes of biodiversity, flora and
fauna, history and storytelling, volunteerism, and honoring the past and looking towards the
future. As a continuation of the celebration of 25 Years of Terryland Forest Park, these
poems seek to bring attention to this important green space in Galway City, and shed light
on some of the special plants, animals, and people that make up the area.

Cassandra Bousquet, a study-abroad student from the San Francisco Bay Area, is a current
volunteer with the Tuatha of Terryland Forest Park in Galway City. Her poem,

“Dear Human at the Edge of Time” appears in the 2023 anthology of the same title, edited by Luisa A.
Igloria, Aileen Cassinetto, and Jeremy S. Hoffman, which came out in conjunction with the
congressionally-mandated Fifth National Climate Assessment. Her most recent publication
is in The Nature of Our Times, Poems on America’s Lands, Waters, Wildlife, and Other
Natural Wonders, edited by Aileen Cassinetto, Luisa A. Igloria, and David Hassler, which was
set to come out as a companion piece to the United States First National Nature
Assessment. This project has been federally halted, however, research continues with the
support of the United By Nature initiative. Cassandra feels most inspired among the trees.