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Curious Festival branding element: Eye

09–27 August 2021

All eyes on Scotland’s leading thinkers in this thought-provoking series of free online talks and intimate conversations designed to question and inspire the world around us to reach new insights.

Featured Event | August 9, 2021

Thirteen fragments

An artistic response to how Scotland can emerge from the Covid pandemic as a more equitable society and explores how a nation’s resilience can be built up and developed.

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Featured Event | August 12, 2021

The world shrinks to a windowpane

An illustrated conversation between artist Victoria Crowe FRSE and poet Christine De Luca

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Featured Event | August 11, 2021

Culture, sport, health and wellbeing

Events over the last 18 months have pushed everyone.

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Upcoming Events

Event Date (August):
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9 Aug
27 Aug 2021
Walking tourFree

Curious Edinburgh – self guided walking tours

Mon 9 August 2021 Wanting a break from online meetings?
Mon 9 Aug 2021
Tea and talkFree

History is our playground

11:00am
Mon 9 August 2021 Dr Iain Donald; Dr Nick Webber; and Professor Jeremy Smith FRSE From the tapestry to the cinema, to the books, documentaries and plays that lie in between, humans are obsessed with finding new, engaging ways to encounter our past.
Mon 9 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

Enlightenment rocks

1:00pm
Mon 9 August 2021 Professor Kathryn Rudy FRSE; Lucinda Lax; Stephanie O’Rourke; Dr Al McGowan FRSE; and Ilana Halperin. Glen Tilt is central to the history of geology because it was one of the sites where James Hutton (1726-97), the father of modern geology, devised his ideas about deep time.
Mon 9 Aug 2021
Tea and talkFree

A life in science festivals

3:00pm
Mon 9 August 2021 Dr Simon Gage OBE and Professor Martin Hendry FRSE Dr Simon Gage, Director of Edinburgh Science Festival, discusses what he believes makes for great engagement.
Mon 9 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

Thirteen fragments

7:30pm
Mon 9 August 2021 Talat Yaqoob FRSE; Hannah Lavery; Zinnie Harris FRSE National Theatre of Scotland An artistic response to how Scotland can emerge from the Covid pandemic as a more equitable society and explores how a nation’s resilience can be built up and developed.
Tue 10 Aug 2021
Tea and talkFree

Art for useful knowledge

11:00am
Tue 10 August 2021 Professor Roy Burdon FRSB, FRSA, FRSE
Tue 10 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

Old books, new technologies

3:00pm
Tue 10 August 2021 Daryl Green FSA FSAScot; Professor Jeremy Smith FRSE Can we really teach computers to read the handwriting of the past? What does pigment and DNA analysis tell us about how books were made in the medieval and early modern period?
Wed 11 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

From the cosmos to consumers

1:00pm
Wed 11 August 2021 Professor Martin Hendry FRSE; Professor Giles Hammond FRSE; Professor Victoria Martin; Professor Aidan Robson FRSE; Professor Stuart Reid FRSE How 'Big Science' discoveries drive technological innovation
Wed 11 Aug 2021
Tea and talkFree

The Army and Covid-19

3:00pm
Wed 11 August 2021 Brigadier Ben M A Wrench; Professor Anne Anderson FRSE The British Army Delivering support, maintaining defence, and planning evolution
Wed 11 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

Culture, sport, health and wellbeing

6:30pm
Wed 11 August 2021 Dr Bridget McConnell CBE FRSE; Mel Young MBE; Dame Katherine Grainger DBE; and Dr Linda Irvine Fitzpatrick. Events over the last 18 months have pushed everyone.
Thu 12 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

Death in the climate crisis era

11:00am
Thu 12 August 2021 Dr Richard Smith; Professor Scott Murray MBE FRSE; Professor Seamus O’Mahony; and Dr Libby Sallnow Health professionals discuss how the climate crisis, the pandemic, and the way we die now are linked and innovative ways for how we can best respond.
Thu 12 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

The world shrinks to a windowpane

1:00pm
Thu 12 August 2021 Robyn Marsack FRSE; Victoria Crowe FRSE; and Christine De Luca An illustrated conversation between artist Victoria Crowe FRSE and poet Christine De Luca
Thu 12 Aug 2021
Tea and talkFree

Delivering clean energy from space

3:00pm
Thu 12 August 2021 Dr Pam Anderson and Professor Colin McInnes MBE FREng FRSE The utility of solar power to deliver useful energy services is limited by the daily day-night cycle.
Fri 13 Aug 2021
Tea and talkFree

Historical practices of video games

11:00am
Fri 13 August 2021 Dr Nick Webber; Dr Iain Donald; and Professor Jeremy Smith FRSE From the tapestry to the cinema, to the books, documentaries and plays that lie in between, humans are obsessed with finding new, engaging ways to encounter our past.
Fri 13 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

Understanding future energy demand

3:00pm
Fri 13 August 2021 Professor Geoffrey Boulton OBE FRS FRSE; Professor Peter Grant OBE FREng FRSE Averting devastatingly damaging long-term consequences of climate change will require major change in all sectors of society, particularly in adapting energy systems.
Mon 16 Aug 2021
Tea and talkFree

Building resilience in young people

11:00am
Mon 16 August 2021 Professor Stella Chan; Professor Andrew McIntosh FRSE Depression is relatively rare in small children but it becomes rapidly more common once they have reached teenage years.
Mon 16 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

Balancing the risk

1:00pm
Mon 16 August 2021 Professor Niamh Nic Daied FRSE; Professor Stephen Senn, CStat, FRSE; Roger Halliday; and Professor Sheila Macdonald Bird OBE FRSE, FMedSci How do we help people to use science and data to make decisions?
Mon 16 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

Endometriosis: the painful truth

3:00pm
Mon 16 August 2021 Professor Philippa Saunders FRSE; FMedSci; Professor Andrew Horne FRSE, FRCOG; Fiona Stalker Endometriosis is a common condition that can cause chronic pain which affects 1 in 10 women and may reduce their chance of becoming pregnant.
Tue 17 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

The Covid-19 challenge to mechanical engineers

11:00am
Tue 17 August 2021 Professor Joe McGeough FRSE FREng FIMechE; Lt Col Mark Jackson BEng MBA FIMechE; Mr Frank Mills BSC FCIBSE MASHRAI FIMechE; Dr Helen Meese; Mr Andrew Bradley Coronavirus has affected people of all nations. It is an infectious disease. It can reside on surfaces, be spread through physical contact and travel through the air.
Tue 17 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

Brain health

1:00pm
Tue 17 August 2021 Professor Richard Morris, CBE, FRS, FRSE; Professor Stella Chan, FBPsS; Professor Alan Gow FBPsS; Professor Tara Spires-Jones, DPhil Health has been on all our minds in the past year and longer.
Tue 17 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

Communication and collaboration in a crisis

3:00pm
Tue 17 August 2021 Professor Stephen Reicher FBA FRSE; Professor Jason Leitch CBE; Dr Anne Templeton; and Allan Farmer. The notion of a genuine partnership between government and people, where each listen to each other and feel listened to is very attractive.
Wed 18 Aug 2021
Tea and talkFree

Video games and American history

11:00am
Wed 18 August 2021 Dr Esther Wright; Dr Iain Donald; and Professor Jeremy Smith FRSE From the tapestry to the cinema, to the books, documentaries and plays that lie in between, humans are obsessed with finding new, engaging ways to encounter our past.
Wed 18 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

What is next for social prescribing in Scotland?

3:00pm
Wed 18 August 2021 Benedict Lejac; Theresa Shearer; Clare Cook; Cameron MacFarlane; and Dr Hugh Asher. Social prescribing is when health professionals refer patients to support in the community
Thu 19 Aug 2021
Tea and talkFree

Developing treatments for Covid-19

11:00am
Thu 19 August 2021 Dr Deborah O’Neil, OBE FRSE, Chief Executive & Scientific Officer, NovaBiotics Discussion reflecting on the the discovery and development of new or re-purposed treatments to tackle the Covid-19 virus.
Thu 19 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

The science of the small

1:00pm
Thu 19 August 2021 Professor Robert Henderson FRSE; Professor Alistair H Kean University of the Highlands and Islands How nanotechnology is advancing healthcare
Thu 19 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

Inside forensic science

3:00pm
Thu 19 August 2021 Professor Niamh Nic Daeid FRSE; Professor Lucina Hackman; Alex Prentice QC; Pennie Latin; Dan Holland; Heather Doran. Looking back and to the future of forensic science
Fri 20 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

Bacteria: the true rulers of your world

3:00pm
Fri 20 August 2021 Ines Foidl; Cait MacPhee CBE FRSE FInstP FRSC, FRSB; Bryne Ngwenya, B.Sc., PhD, FGS; and Nicola Stanley-Wall FRSE FRSB FEAM. Who are the true rulers of our world?
Sun 22 Aug 2021
Walking tourFree

The Walking Library for a Wild City – Edinburgh

2:00pm
Sun 22 August 2021 Professor Dee Heddon and Alec Finlay The Walking Library is a library that carries books by foot. It brings books, reading, and walking into unexpected and dynamic relationships.
Mon 23 Aug 2021
Tea and talkFree

Art for useful knowledge

11:00am
Mon 23 August 2021 Professor Roy Burdon FRSB, FRSA, FRSE
Mon 23 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

Making space to thrive

1:00pm
Mon 23 August 2021 Karen Anderson FRSE; Professor Sarah Curtis FBA, FAcSS FRSE; Kieron Boyle; Ian Gilzean; and Kirsty Macari The built environment impacts hugely on the quality of our lives – and by extension on our health and wellbeing
Tue 24 Aug 2021
Tea and talkFree

Tools for telling time on a changing planet

11:00am
Tue 24 August 2021 Dr Michelle Bastian; Professor David Farrier; and Professor Martin Hendry FRSE. How do we reckon with time when the times seem so out of joint?
Tue 24 Aug 2021
Walking tourFree

The Walking Library for a Wild City – Glasgow

2:00pm
Tue 24 August 2021 Professor Dee Heddon The Walking Library is a library that carries books by foot. It brings books, reading, and walking into unexpected and dynamic relationships.
Tue 24 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

Rescuing the bird life on Gough Island

3:00pm
Tue 24 August 2021 Professor Mary Bownes FRSE; Dr Adam Naylor; Dr Georgina Cole; and David Field. Two vets from the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland will tell their story of just what it is like to be involved in conservation of rare birds on the remote Gough Island.
Wed 25 Aug 2021
Tea and talkFree

Walking and creativity during Covid-19

11:00am
Wed 25 August 2021 Professor Dee Heddon and Dr Rebekah Widdowfield Data tells us that more people walked more during COVID-19... why is this?
Wed 25 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

Coastal knowledge and communities

2:00pm
Wed 25 August 2021 Dr Leslie Mabon; Dr Sandro Carnicelli; Dr Niki Vermeulen; Professor Fiona Henriquez; Dr Alex Campbell; Lisa Mackenzie; Dr Emilie Combet; Professor Kathyrn Elmer Young Academy of Scotland This event builds on the Young Academy of Scotland Marine Science project and participation in the development of the Scotland Marine and Fresh-Water Science Roadmap.
Wed 25 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

Take off to green aviation

4:00pm
Wed 25 August 2021 Andy Sloan FRSE; Professor Andrew Rae CEng FRAeS FIET SFHEA ACGI University of the Highlands and Islands The first real-world evaluation of zero-carbon flying is happening in Orkney in 2021.
Thu 26 Aug 2021
Tea and talkFree

Nostalgia and applied games

11:00am
Thu 26 August 2021 Dr Robin Sloan; Dr Andrew Reid and Professor Kirstie Blair FRSE. From the tapestry to the cinema, to the books, documentaries and plays that lie in between, humans are obsessed with finding new, engaging ways to encounter our past.
Thu 26 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

Education in the post-covid era

1:00pm
Thu 26 August 2021 Professor Keith Smyth; Dr Alice König; Dr Janet Brown FRSE University of the Highlands and Islands; Young Academy of Scotland Post-pandemic education futures: rethinking precarity, place and practice
Thu 26 Aug 2021
Panel discussionFree

Reforming the UK’s asylum system

3:00pm
Thu 26 August 2021 Professor Michael Keating FRSE; Professor Christina Boswell FRSE; Dylan Fotoohi; Professor Alison Phipps OBE FRSE; Professor Jo Shaw QC FRSE What does it say about the UK as a nation and the future of the Refugee Convention in the UK?

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About

At its core, the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) aims to ‘make knowledge useful’ by mobilising the expertise of our Fellowship to make fundamental, positive differences to Scotland and beyond. Curious appeals to an eagerness for exploration, and an openness to new perspectives. Knowledge is the greatest gift you can give to others. It strengthens ideas, relationships, and communities.

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