Macnas heading for Cork's Marina Market as part of Science Week next month

With Cork projects among those to benefit, minister for further and higher education, research, innovation and science James Lawless has said that €847,820 in funding will be available to support 36 projects taking place nationwide as part of Science Week 2025.

Now into its 30th year, Science Week is coordinated by Research Ireland and celebrates science in our everyday lives.

Running from November 9-16 the Marina Market will host Science Week exhibitions and events, including events which have been allocated funding.

SpaceFest 2025, a celebration of the art and science of space which brings exhibitions, performances, tours and workshops to Cork city, has been awarded funding of €50,000. This year sees the central SpaceFest exhibition relocating to the Marina Market from November 8–15.

Elsewhere, Science at the Marina has been awarded €10,000 in funding. A one-day free public event celebrating STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics), this collaborative initiative brings together leading Research Ireland Centres (APC Microbiome Ireland and VistaMilk), Teagasc, the Agriculture and Food Development Authority of Ireland and University College Cork.

Another Cork event, Otter Spotters: A Citizen Science Roadshow, also has been awarded €10,000 in funding.

This proposal focuses on Ireland’s native otter as a gateway to encourage broader conversations about ecology, biodiversity conservation and public participation in scientific research. The roadshow brings citizen science to individuals across Cork city during Science Week.

Being awarded a total of €9,855, ‘Light Laboratory: Optical Science past, present, future’ is a citizen science event in Cork bringing STEM and Theatre together. As part of this, there will be an in person event where optical science principles of the past will be demonstrated with dramatic effect at The Granary Theatre.

Meanwhile, among the festival highlights for Science Week 2025, the creative theatre company Macnas is making its Cork premiere at Marina Market on November 9.

Macnas will bring drummers, stilt walkers and puppets to Cork city to tell a powerful story about biodiversity loss.

Visit: https://www.scienceweek.ie/