Science lectures for the general public at Aarhus University

Every spring and autumn since 2005, the Faculty of Science at Aarhus University has held a series of evening lectures on science subjects. Admission is free, and the lectures have become so popular that they are frequently booked out. The lectures take place in the largest of the university’s Lakeside Lecture Theatres, with live transmission to other lecture theatres in the complex.

The spring 2008 series attracted audiences of up to a thousand each evening and was featured in the Danish universities’ scientific journal Aktuel Naturvidenskab (Current Science) in March 2008.  See the article below.

The autumn 2009 series begins on 20 October and follows the same procedure as in previous years, with each lecture being held twice to meet public demand.

Time and venue

Lakeside Lecture Theatres 19.00–21.00 with one intermission.
Lakeside Lecture Theatre 1 accommodates audiences of up to 425, with video transmission to a further 500 in Lecture Theatres 2–6.

Buffet

A special Italian buffet is available in the Mathematics Canteen from 17.30 in connection with each lecture. Bookings are essential and there is room for 200 guests. The buffet includes a glass of wine or soft drink and costs DKK 100 for adults and DKK 50 for children.

Intermission

Coffee, tea, fruit, cake and mineral water can be purchased during the intermission.

Late-night café

A snack with wine, beer or soft drink can be purchased after the lecture in the nearby Steno Museum (just 5 minutes away). Guests have the opportunity to look round the exhibits at the museum and chat with the lecturers.

Bookings

Admission is free, but advance bookings are required as there is limited seating available.
Each lecture is held two nights in succession on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

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Spring 2010 programme

		Tuesday 2 March 2010 Wednesday 3 March 2010 (repeat) Accelerators – the large physics machines Scientists use accelerators as giant microscopes, and the larger they are, the smaller the objects we can see. Small experiments performed during the lecture will demonstrate how electric and magnetic forces are used in the accelerators. The CERN European Particle Research Centre in Switzerland has built the world’s largest accelerator in a 27-kilometre tunnel, 100 metres underground. Physicists here have just begun smashing protons into each other with tremendous amounts of energy. Journalists describe a worst-case scenario in which we all risk ending up in a black hole, but why is this a hoax? You can also hear about cancer treatment and why rays from atomic nuclei can result in better radiation therapy. Doctor Søren Pape Møller, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University
		Tuesday 9 March 2010 Wednesday 10 March 2010 (repeat) Why do we age? When our molecules make us old It is an inevitable fact that we all age – and ultimately die! However, some people are alert right to the end – both mentally and physically – while others become infirm or develop illness at an early age. The basic processes that lead to our ageing – and our different ways of growing old – are not yet known in detail. However, there are several theories that try to provide an overall explanation of the ageing phenomenon. Scientists are now able to see and study ageing in the individual cells of the body – right down to the molecular level. But what can we expect the latest molecular ageing research to be used for? Associate Professor Tinna Stevnsner, Danish Centre for Molecular Gerontology, Department of Molecular Biology, Aarhus University
		Tuesday 16 March 2010 Wednesday 17 March 2010 (repeat) Fossilised DNA Studies of DNA from fossil material provide direct insight into the genetics of the past. This field has already provided notable new knowledge regarding our understanding of the history of human development, modern human migration between continents, past ecosystems in Siberia and Greenland, and the large mammals that became extinct after the last Ice Age approximately 10,000 years ago. The lecture gives you a brief introduction to this relatively new research field, as well as a number of examples of its numerous applications in evolutionary biology, paleoecology, archaeology and paleontology. Professor Eske Willerslev, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen
		Tuesday 23 March 2010 Wednesday 24 March 2010 (repeat) Mystery of the heights of mountains – a tour of mountains, glaciers, rivers and waterfalls When the Earth’s continental plates collide with each other, mountain chains are created. But what actually determines their height? Is it a coincidence that the highest mountains are near the equator and that mountains in the cold regions to the north and south are lower? Last autumn, geophysicists from Aarhus University demonstrated that glaciers can whittle down mountains faster than they can grow, and this means the mountains do not get much higher than the snowline. Because the snowline varies according to the climate, the scientists have found a new explanation of the fact that the Himalayas are higher than Norway’s mountains. Associate Professor David Lundbek Egholm, Department of Earth Sciences, Aarhus University.

Read more about the individual lecures (we regret these are only available in Danish)

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Star for a night

From an article in the Danish universities’ scientific journal Aktuel Naturvidenskab (Current Science), March 2008:

Holding a lecture for audiences amounting to almost a thousand eager lay people is definitely not an everyday happening for most scientists. These visitors come from far and near to hear about the latest developments in scientific research. Over a period of time, a number of researchers have had this unusual experience in connection with the series of lectures held at Aarhus University, the success of which has been greater than normal by all accounts.

Jens Holbech, Head of Communication at the Faculty of Science, and Helge Knudsen, Associate Professor of Physics, have organised the series of lectures since 2005, held in collaboration with the Danish University Extension in Aarhus. The lectures were originally planned as being restricted to the largest of the university’s Lakeside Lecture Theatres in the University Park. However, the response was so overwhelming that it was necessary to use six of the lecture theatres in the complex. Each lecture is therefore transmitted via a video link to the five other lecture theatres. Themes for the series of lectures include comprehensive subjects such as Life, Scientific breakthroughs and Symmetries and patterns in science. In spring 2008, the theme was Mysteries and secrets.

Jens Holbech says that now that the lectures are running in their third year, people have become so aware of the event that all the tickets are snapped up within a few days, which means a great deal of disappointment when attempts to order tickets online are in vain.
“The interest shown this term indicates that we could have filled one auditorium with 1,500 guests if the university had one at its disposal,” he says. At the same time, he reports that a number of guests travel great distances – from cities as far away as Aalborg, Viborg and Kolding – and even a few from the island of Funen.

For the scientists who figure in the lectures, it is naturally a great experience telling such a large audience about their research.
“The greatest pleasure for a scientist is being able to follow up on their natural curiosity – and the next greatest is being able to tell others about it,” says Peter Teglberg Madsen, one of the lecturers in the spring series, who talked about his research into whales.
“Being able to talk about it to such a big audience makes it a huge experience,” he says.
At the same time, he is pleased that the enormous influx disproves to such a great extent that average citizens are not interested in science.
“For me, this only shows that if you care to make the effort shown with these lectures, you can attract just as many people to a scientific lecture as you can to a medium-sized rock concert – and that’s really quite impressive,” says Peter Teglberg Madsen. He is also happy that he has received a steady stream of enquiries from interested people since his lecture.
“It’s extremely satisfying to experience that talking about the research you’re really passionate about can stir up so much enthusiasm among ordinary citizens that they want to communicate with you,” he says.

According to Jens Holbech and Helge Knudsen, the plan is to continue presenting both the spring and autumn lectures as long as the interest remains.

Full house! The series of science lectures at Aarhus University has become such a great success that all the lectures were reported “sold out”, in spite of having a total of six lecture theatres available. Here Professor Minik Rosing, the internationally renowned Danish researcher, lectures about his ground-breaking theory that completely revolutionalised the scientific account of the Creation: continents such as Africa, Europe, Asia, North and South America would never have arisen if there had not been life on Earth.