World-famous Christmas Lecture to be live screened at UCLan

7 November 2019

The Royal Institution’s annual lecture will be shown at the Preston Campus on 12 December

Science fans are in for a treat in December as one of the world-famous Royal Institution (Ri) CHRISTMAS LECTURES is being screened at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) for the second-year running.

The live screening of the annual lecture, this year entitled Why You Can’t Trust Your Gut?, will take place on the Preston Campus on Thursday 12 December.

Mathematician and TV presenter Dr Hannah Fry will expose how people’s view of reality is biased, emotional and easily manipulated, whereas maths reveals the underlying truth.

In a series of live demonstrations, the Associate Professor in the Mathematics of Cities at the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis at University College London will play tricks with the audience’s intuitions, to show that their gut feelings rarely beat probability, statistics and big data when it comes to making key decisions.

"We are delighted that thousands more people can enjoy the magic of the Lectures live, in such amazing venues. Michael Faraday would most definitely approve."

The free event, which will take place in Darwin Lecture Theatre - home to the UCLan and Ri Young Scientist Centre., is suitable for all ages but attendees under 18 must be supervised at all times. The event starts from 5.00pm when attendees can try their hand at some experiments and puzzles and the lecture will begin at 6.00pm.

Places are limited and must be booked via Eventbrite.

Shaun Fitzgerald, Director of the Ri, said: “We want to connect as many people as possible with science and this is a wonderful opportunity to extend the reach of one of our flagship events.

“As well as being an amazing show, the CHRISTMAS LECTURES represent the ideal opportunity to critically examine the impact of science in our lives. We are delighted that thousands more people can enjoy the magic of the Lectures live, in such amazing venues. Michael Faraday would most definitely approve.”

UCLan’s established partnership with the Ri means it has been chosen as one of only a small number of UK wide venues to show one of the three prestigious lectures.

All three lectures will be available to watch on BBC Four between Christmas and New Year.