UCLan’s first Cyprus Science Festival aims to emulate Preston cousin

20 December 2016

Over 3000 people attend inspiring event

Aiming to replicate the success of UCLan’s Lancashire Science Festival, the University’s Cyprus Campus welcomed over 2,000 students to the first ever Cyprus Science Festival.

The collaborative* event, hosted and organised by UCLan Cyprus, took place between Wednesday 7 and Sunday 11 December. Students from primary, secondary, high school and technical colleges attended alongside over 1,000 members of the general public.

Staff from UCLan Preston were also on hand – helping participants to experience and enjoy over 30 hands-on demonstrations linking aspects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics to everyday life via experiments, practical demonstrations and exciting competitions.

"The Cyprus Science Festival was a major success for us and, like our event in Preston, really helped to demonstrate UCLan’s institutional commitment of being an accessible and publicly-engaged University."

Commenting on the event, UCLan Cyprus Rector Professor Melinda Tan, emphasised the University’s pledge of striving to be a civic anchor between education and the community:

“The Cyprus Science Festival was a major success for us and, like our event in Preston, really helped to demonstrate UCLan’s institutional commitment of being an accessible and publicly-engaged University. We are determined to support educational outreach efforts on the island and act as a catalyst in nurturing the development of new ideas in young and enquiring minds.”

Cypriot support for the event was widespread with speeches at the opening day being made by the Director of Secondary Education Dr Louis Kyprianos; the Representative of the General Director of Ministry of Energy, Commerce, Industry, & Tourism Mr Konstantinos Karageorgis; President of the Cyprus Society of Physics, Dr Demetris Philippou and the Director of Kiteon Planetarium and Observatory, Dr George Droullias.

*The Cyprus Science Festival was a joint collaboration between UCLan Cyprus and the research organisation C.R.I.C. Center for Research and Innovation in Cognition, the InSPIRE Research Center (Center of Interdisciplinary Science Promotion and Innovative Research Exploration) and the Cyprus Physicist Union.

The festival was also supported under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Energy Commerce Industry and Tourism, with sponsorship from Petrolina Public Ltd and the Quality Group. 

A psychology talk underway at UCLan Cyprus
A psychology talk underway at UCLan Cyprus