Neuroscience, biomedicine, nanotechnology, food science, physics, the environment and sustainability... the scientific research carried out in Valencia, washed down with beer and with a good dose of humour and entertainment, reaches the bars again. This world event is held simultaneously in 44 Spanish cities and in 400 cities in 24 countries around the world. In the last edition held in Valencia, more than 1,000 people attended the different talks.

The Pint of Science festival aims to bring the work of Valencian researchers closer to the general public for another year, in a relaxed, entertaining and very close tone.

The talks are organised by theme in each of the bars. At the Benimaclet Musical Casino –Baró de San Petrillo Street, 14– the session “From atoms to galaxies” will be held, with conferences on gastronomic science, the environment or chemistry, among other subjects.

At the George Best Club, –Alzira Street, 12– the session “Our Body” on health, nanomedicine and biotechnology will take place. And Ca Revolta –Santa Teresa Street, 10– will host “Wonderful Mind”, with talks on neuroscience, the functioning of the brain, its plasticity and mental illness.

The participating researchers – more than half of them are women – come from 18 research centres, including the Faculties of Pharmacy and Medicine, and the Institutes of Molecular Science (ICMOL) and Biotechnology and Biomedicine (BIOTECMED) of the University of Valencia. Also from the Mental Health Network Research Centre (CIBERSAM), the Príncipe Felipe Research Centre (CIPF), the Valencia Institute of Biomedicine (IBV, CSIC), the INCLIVA Institute and the Corpuscular Physics Institute (IFIC, CSIC-UV), and the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ, UPV-CSIC), among others. In addition, it has the collaboration of the CSIC’s House of Science in Valencia.

Origin of the festival

 The Pint of Science is an initiative that arose in 2012 in the United Kingdom when researchers from Imperial College London, doctors Praveen Paul and Michael Motskin, launched an event called “Meet the researchers”, in which they brought Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s patients in laboratories to see exactly what was being done in research regarding their diseases.

When Paul and Motskin saw the interest of the people, they decided that, just as they went to the laboratories to get closer to science, science could go looking for people, if not in their homes, at least in bars. The initiative spread rapidly among male and female researchers, reaching several countries through a network of contacts.

In Spain, the initiative is articulated from the Pint of Science Spain Scientific Dissemination Association based in Vitoria-Gasteiz. The organisation is made up of people who, in their spare time and without profit, recruit new cities for the festival. The Valencia edition has the institutional support of the Príncipe Felipe Research Centre, the Scientific Culture Unit of the University of Valencia and the CSIC.

More information: http://www.pintofscience.es/events/valencia