Mar 2019 blog St Patrick’s Festival 2019

The Amgen Biotech Experience Ireland team were invited to participate in the St Patrick’s Festival in Merrion Square, Dublin on March 18 as part of the Science Foundation Ireland sponsored arena. They were joined by UCD researchers and staff from Systems Biology Ireland and UCD Conway Institute. This year, more than 600 people got involved in a range of research related activities in our dedicated exhibition tent space.

While younger children got stuck into painting inspired by the research images on display, the adults heard about the work from postgraduates and postdoctoral staff. Older children tested their scientific skills by micropipetting different volumes of food dye onto card templates and learned about how quickly bacterial infections can spread by playing a simulated computer game.

The activities were taken from aspects of the Amgen Biotech Experience programme as well as from ‘The Petri Dish: Science & Art’ project initially developed by Dr Ana Herrero-Langreo, UCD School of Biology & Environmental Science and UCD Conway Institute as part of the 2018 Ranelagh Arts Festival. Additional images of research were provided by scientists from UCD Conway Institute. ABE Ireland team were joined in the Festival tent by our fantastic volunteers, Dr Joseph Crispell, Dr Ana Herrero-Langreo, Bronwyn Berkley and James White.