Seek the Evidence with Midlands Forum

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Local development company, Midlands Science is pleased to announce the first event which will take place later this summer as part of its new Science Communities project, which is funded by Science Foundation Ireland through the Discover Award programme. This initiative is designed to build impactful dialogue and discussion between community groups in the Midlands and those involved in science and public policy.

The first forum which is scheduled to take place online on August 19th will focus on ‘Science in everyday life. Science and scientific evidence.’ As citizens and consumers, we make decisions every day that are affected by science. From miracle anti-aging serums to cures for diseases, this event will open discussion on how we understand science and how to discern evidence so we can make good decisions for ourselves.  Participants will explore different scientific disciplines, the meaning of scientific evidence and whether we can we trust it? It will also look at the quality of research against what is just sensationalised.

Key event speaker, Dr Isabela Aparicio from the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland commented,

‘I’m really looking forward to joining the new Midlands Science programme, Science Communities and to virtually engage with this group over the coming months. We are constantly bombarded with scientific information on the news and social media. In particularly over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted this information overload, and we have seen rising levels of mixed reporting, misinformation, fake news, and even conspiracy theories, making it very difficult for the public to know on what to trust. We have a pressing need to know how to access the reliable evidence and we hope that in running this forum as part of the overall Science Communities project that we can engage the public and help them to question what they hear in everyday media.’

Other upcoming Science Communities events will include discussions on Sugar, Spice & everything Science – The Science of Food & Alcohol,  Viruses, Vaccines and Immunity – The Science of Diseases and Medicine and Health – Who and how we can trust?

The project will run during the months of August, September, Oc tober and November.  If you are interested in taking part in this project please email outreach@midlandsscience.ie