Attention all aspiring artists, scientists, engineers and beyond! Be Curious has something for you. Dive into our programme and find your next adventure at Be Curious.
Saturday 18 May, 10am to 4pm (10am to 11am quiet hour)
Book your tickets – general admission
Book your tickets – quiet hour
Arts
What does Disney feel like? – Charlotte Durham
Have you ever wondered why Disney might make you feel a certain way? In this space we’ll use light and sound to help us think about these feelings and respond by creating a collective piece of art.
Location: Banham Theatre
Suitable for: all ages
How do we bring history to life creatively? – Isabelle Hollingdale
Learn about a historical figure from Yorkshire whose story might have been forgotten, and bring that story to life creatively. Your work can then be displayed at the stall, to share the story with others.
Location: Michael Sadler Building, LG.10
Suitable for: ages 10 and above
What do fossils mean to you? – Dr Sonja Andrew and Dr Fiona Gill
Why are ammonite fossils called ‘snake stones’ and ‘saligrams’? What’s the link between fossils, maths and art? Why are coal forest plant fossils covered in repeating pattern? Join us to find out the answers and create your own fossil-inspired print to take home!
Location: Precinct
Suitable for: ages 5 and above
Can you spot an image that’s been made by AI? – Professor Thea Pitman
Check out our pictures! Can you tell which ones are real and which are made by a computer?
Location: Riley Smith Theatre
Suitable for: ages 10 and above
I can hear a Seagull; Look there’s an Oak! – Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery
Gain inspiration from nature related artworks from the University’s Art Collection to create your own nature spotter’s guide to take away.
Location: Parkinson Building, Parkinson Court South
Suitable for: all ages
What can you do with a piano that’s nearing the end of its useful life? – Pianodrome
Join Pianodrome and Scott McLaughlin in giving an old piano its final encore! Visit the School of Music to watch and take part as the piano is transformed and given a new life.
Location: School of Music
Suitable for: all ages
Health
How do medicines work in our bodies? – Dr Emily Caseley
We all take medicines sometimes, but what do these little molecules actually do? Join us on a virtual reality tour to find out, and take some science home with you in our goodie bags!
Location: Riley Smith Theatre
Suitable for: all ages
How can we protect our hearts? – Dr Hema Viswambharan
Combat one of the deadliest 21st-century health threats: heart disease. Discover protection strategies through our Virtual Reality demo, life-sized body models and engaging puzzles. Unveil the mystery with us!
Location: Riley Smith Theatre
Suitable for: all ages
How does your heart pump blood? – Dr Lia De Faveri
Get inspired and learn about one of the central organs of the body – the heart. Learn about blood types, your pulse and why a healthy heart is important to pump blood around the body.
Location: Michael Sadler Building, LG.10
Suitable for: all ages
How do we build a virus? – Dr Rebecca Chandler-Bostock
What is a virus made of? How does it get put together? Come and learn what makes up a virus and get a chance to build your own.
Location: Michael Sadler Building, LG.10
Suitable for: all ages
What can you learn from your bowels, your bugs and your poo? – Dr Susan Richman
Come and learn about your guts, and the bugs living in them. Learn what happens to these bugs when we take antibiotics, and how we can use them to help treat bowel cancer.
Location: Riley Smith Theatre
Suitable for: all ages
How are proteins made? – RiboCode
Decode a message to make a protein from DNA, just like your cells do!
Location: Michael Sadler Building, LG.15
Suitable for: ages 5 and above
How does your body fix, declutter and recycle to keep you in shape? – Dr Yvonne Nyathi
Join us as we dive into the amazing world of membrane proteins. We’ll explore the tools we use in the lab to study them to help make new medicines to keep us well.
Location: Michael Sadler Building, LG.15
Suitable for: ages 5 and above
What are facial prostheses? – I’m Still Me
Facial prostheses are custom-made removable devices that can replace a missing facial part, such as a nose, ear, or eye. Research in Leeds has explored new ways of making facial prostheses using computers.
A group of artists have created paintings to tell the stories of people who wear facial prostheses. Come and learn more about what face equality means with some fun arts and crafts activities.
Location: Parkinson Building, Parkinson Court North
Suitable for: ages 5 and above
Do you like trying new sports? Leeds Sport
Come and join Leeds Sport for some fun football, rounders and Olympic Games themed sports activities.
Location: Precinct
Suitable for: all ages
Literacy
How fast are your fingers? – Dr Emily Williams
Play on our Turbo Typing arcade machine and find out! Tap or type your way to victory and join our leaderboard. Compete against your family and friends!
Location: Michael Sadler Building, LG.16
Suitable for: ages 5 and above
How do we turn shapes into sounds? – Associate Professor Paula Clarke
The brain works really hard to turn squiggles on a page into sounds and words. Help us make an app to better understand this and to give teachers ideas to help children learn to read.
Location: Baines Wing, G.37
Suitable for: all ages
Board reading? – Dr Peter Hart
Find the secret criminal, solve clues, and work together to find answers – we’ll be showing off games we use in our research with schools that we think can help to develop your reading!
Location: Baines Wing, G.37
Suitable for: all ages
Can you be a dialect detective? – Dialect and Heritage Project
Join in the Great Big Dialect Trail. Embark on an adventure across campus and collect clues to save the lost dialect word from extinction.
Location: Precinct
Suitable for: ages 5 and above
Can you tell me how this book makes you feel? – Dr Lorraine Yang
Feel so strongly about fiction that you need to talk to someone about it? Share your favourite reads and meet other people who share your love for books!
Suitable for: ages 5 and above
Science
What can computers learn from your voice? – Mary Paterson
Discover the secrets of your voice! See if you can trick the computer as it tries to guess your age and go head to head to see who is better, computers or humans!
Location: Michael Sadler Building, LG.16
Suitable for: ages 5 and above
Can you win the chocolate game? – Dr Pablo Andújar Guerrero and Dr Sebastian Eterovic
Moriarty challenges Sherlock Holmes to a deadly game. Following certain rules, chose pieces to eat from a chocolate tablet, but be careful to avoid the poisoned one. Can you find the winning strategy and survive?
Location: Riley Smith Theatre
Suitable for: ages 5 and above
How will we build the computers of the future? – Dr Philippa Shepley
At the scale of atoms (30,000 times smaller than one of your hairs!) we can unlock special properties that can help build quantum computers or data storage that uses less energy.
Location: Michael Sadler Building, LG.15
Suitable for: all ages
Why do we study volcanoes and earthquakes? – Dr Scott Watson
Attention future scientists! Explore the fascinating world of earthquakes and volcanoes with scientists from the Centre for Observation and Modelling of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tectonics (COMET). Learn how satellites and sensors become super spies to understand Earth’s hazards.
Location: Riley Smith Theatre
Suitable for: all ages
What is it like being a laser scientist? – Dr Thomas Gill
Come and experience what it’s like to be a laser scientist at the University of Leeds! Play with lasers and discover how we use them in our labs!
Location: Michael Sadler Building, LG.17
Suitable for: ages 5 and above
How does nature make a raincoat? – Dr Sepideh Khodaparast
Explore nature’s secrets by discovering how special surfaces stay clean and dry naturally. Have a look at the tiny structures these surfaces hide up close and watch droplets dance on them!
Location: Riley Smith Theatre
Suitable for: ages 5 and above
What are proteins and how are they made? – Dr Sharon Yeoh
Proteins do all kinds of jobs in living cells. Each protein must fold itself from a floppy chain into a particular 3D shape to do its job. What do these tiny structures look like?
Location: Riley Smith Theatre
Suitable for: ages 5 and above
Sustainability
What does a nature-friendly, climate-ready region look like? – Yorkshire and Humber / Leeds Climate Commissions
Help us create a picture of life in the future – out of Play-Doh! Cut, squish and shape your ideas for your home town, city, countryside or coast. Then add your creations to our giant map!
Location: Precinct
Suitable for: all ages
Can we help you fix your bike? – Dr Bike
If you’ve travelled by bike to Be Curious, why not take the opportunity of having our Bike Hub Staff check that your bike is safe and give you honest maintenance advice.
Location: Precinct
Suitable for: all ages
Want to craft like a Jogakbo master? – Dr Hye-Won Lim
Discover the art of Jogakbo upcycling! Create colourful treasures from fabric scrap. Join the fun and sustainable crafting experience. Fun for all ages!
Location: Michael Sadler Building, LG.10
Suitable for: ages 10 and above
How do forests grow? – Dr Robin Hayward
Launch your seed helicopter from our balcony and discover how trees spread in the wild, as well as how we plant and identify tree species around Leeds.
Location: Precinct
Suitable for: all ages
What little things can we do to be more sustainable? – Sustainability Service
Join the Sustainability Service to learn about managing your plastic waste, sustainable recipe ideas, and have a go at making your own mini herb garden!
Location: Precinct
Suitable for: all ages
Smeaton300
Learn about Leeds legend John Smeaton – the UK’s first Civil Engineer. Our researchers show how his ideas are still important, even 300 years after he was around! Read more about our Smeaton300 programme.
The Life of Teddy King – Dr Amélie Addison
Hear about Amelie’s great-great-grandfather, Teddy King. He was a circus musician in the 1890s, and his job was made better by John Smeaton’s discoveries!
Location: Parkinson Building, Parkinson Court
Suitable for: all ages
Fabric Futures – Ashley Victoria
Just like John Smeaton, Ashley is working to make better construction materials. Find out what composites are and how they can help us make things more sustainable.
Location: Parkinson Building, Parkinson Court
Suitable for: ages 5 and above
The Chocolate Trial – Clinical Trials Research Unit
John Smeaton asked a lot of questions to become the best at what he did. Hear how the Clinical Trials team ask questions to make medicine better.
Location: Parkinson Building, Parkinson Court
Suitable for: ages 5 and above
How can we use music to draw maps? Charlotte Sadd
How might we make a map out of music? Get hands on with electronic music technology and help compose a collective cartographic soundscape!
Location: Parkinson Building, Parkinson Court South
Suitable for: ages 5 and above
Jellyfish Station – Immortal Bloom
Make a jellyfish from recycled materials with Immortal Bloom, and feature your artwork at Light Night on campus this October.
Location: Parkinson Building, Parkinson Court South
Suitable for: ages 5 and above
Moon Palace
A gift from East Leeds to the world, Moon Palace is your ticket to the stars without leaving the city. An artwork and mobile observatory by Heather Peak and Ivan Morison, Moon Palace brings together creativity and art, engineering and science, collaboration and public good.
Moon Palace is an East Leeds Project and LEEDS 2023 co-production and is commissioned by Foxglove and LEEDS 2023 for Smeaton300. The work is based on an original idea of a mobile observatory by East Leeds Project. Developed in collaboration with the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leeds.
Location: Precinct
Suitable for: ages 5 and above
Tech and Touch – Dr Rae Gillibrand
In the same way Smeaton used his engineering skills to improve lives, Rae shows us how engineers and medical professionals work together to do the same.
Location: Parkinson Building, Parkinson Court South
Suitable for: ages 5 and above