The Higgs Boson comes to Galway for Science and Technology Festival

By Martina Nee

A major travelling exhibition, entitled ‘Accelerating Science’, will be making its way to Galway this autumn to take part in an exciting and informative science and technology festival.

CERN, the world’s leading laboratory for particle physics, has recently announced that it will be bringing its flagship exhibition, in partnership with the Galway Science and Technology Forum, to the event which takes place from September 16 to November 9 at Leisureland in Salthill. Starting with the history of the universe, the exhibition takes visitors on an extraordinary journey which will include activating a model of the large Hadron Collider, understanding how a particle detector works and what happens when particles collide at almost the speed of light.

Commenting at the launch of Accelerating Science at the Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF 2012) in Dublin, Rolf-Dieter Heuer, director general of CERN, said: “The Accelerating Science exhibition shows how experiments at CERN explore the smallest and largest scales of the universe. It brings the excitement of the research at the LHC to Ireland, and is especially suited for school students from 11 to 18 years old."

Welcoming the arrival of CERN’s Accelerating Science to Ireland, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation, and Science added: "This exciting exhibition will offer a wonderful opportunity for Irish students, teachers, and people who are simply curious. Visitors to the exhibition will be able to follow a unique discovery trail revealing some of the real mysteries and magic of science, and see how fundamental physics underpins so many of the technologies we depend on every day.”

Mike O’Flynn, managing director and vice president operations, Boston Scientific added: “A key ingredient in Ireland’s successful recovery and long term future will be the next generation’s ability to harness innovation and technology. In helping to bring this fascinating exhibition to Ireland, we hope to open up young minds to the wonders of science and inspire budding young scientists and engineers of tomorrow to reach for the stars.”

Tom Hyland, chairman of the Galway Science and Technology Forum, who is coordinating the Accelerating Science Exhibition, said, “The Galway Science and Technology Forum are delighted to be able to bring this fantastic exhibition to Galway. This is a wonderful opportunity for young students to engage with science in a fun and interactive way; the exhibition will help take the mystery out of the Higgs Boson and the Big Bang Theory and inspire secondary school students to study science, technology, engineering, physics and maths, and hopefully choose a career in these fields.”

The exhibition, which is sponsored by Boston Scientific, is suitable primarily for secondary school students and will be open to schools from Monday to Friday and to the public at the weekends and during the midterm break. Teachers and members of the public are encouraged to prebook their place on www.eventelephant.com/galwayscience