Summer 2017 events

Our exciting programme of events from May to August is now open for booking. Don't miss out!

Riku Wallin won this year's image competition with this entry, 'Martian Soil'.
Riku Wallin

Artsci week

Friday 2 June to Friday 9 June

Science has long been a fundamental part of culture, but in recent years art and science collaborations have increased in number and renown. To celebrate, we're putting on a whole week of Artsci events, from tech comedy to comics about physics and from culture combinations to data-driven storytelling

Exploring the extremes

Humans, inquisitive creatures that we are, can't get enough of pushing boundaries in the name of science. To start and finish our summer season, we'll be taking you to mountaintops, deep-sea valleys and everywhere in between.

Join an Everest mountaineer, a deep-sea scientist and a science communicator on 2 May as they discuss the differences between doing research high and low.

On 11 August, come listen to the Turner brothers, identical twins who experiment on themselves by wearing gear from different eras, as they travel to the most extreme places on Earth.

Filming our events

Many of the events in this programme will be filmed and available on the Ri YouTube Channel a few months after the event. Subscribe to receive notifications each time a video is released.

Summer programme

Our new fantastic series of Ri events is now available to book online. Running from 2 May until the end of August, we have an amazing lineup of scientists, artists, dancers, explorers and business leaders bursting to tell you about their work. 

Read on for some of the highlights or browse our What's On calendar online to book your events today.

Don't forget, Ri Members benefit from free and discounted tickets.

Summer fun

Summer is the time for relaxation and vacation, so we have a series of light-hearted science talks to help you escape the stresses and strains of life.

On 11 July, join four top science comics for an evening of laughter and learning.

Dance the night away with Jamie Gallagher in Salsa science on 13 July.

In our final event of the season on 16 August, we're welcoming Helen Keen and her round table of scientists to discuss the science of Game of Thrones.

Family

This season's Family Fun Day is on 13 May and we're bringing chemistry to life by putting on a full day of talks, demonstrations and experiments themed around biochemistry.

We also have Johnny Berliner serenading with SciTunes, Andrew showing what's inside animals, Ruben Meerman kindling the fire inside us all, former Christmas Lecturer Mark Miodownik exploring the marvels of modern materials and the Turner twins expound on their expeditions.

 

Discourses

This summer we've got two Discourses from leading thinkers, covering how drugs get to people who need them most and how people need to partner with Artificial Intelligence.

Patrick Vallance, president of Research and Development at GlaxoSmithKline, will be joining us on 28 May to discuss how the pharmaceutical industry can help in the developing world. 

Digital assistants with artificial intelligence are just around the corner, so on 30 June, Imperial College London's Nick Jennings will be exploring how humans collaborate with computers.

ExpeRience: Midsummer night of science

To recognise the invaluable contributions of our Ri Members and Ri Patrons, we're hosting the first ever Ri ExpeRience on 6 July, an adults-only event with talks and hands-on experiences from the full range of Ri activities, including Heritage and Collections, LYSC and Masterclasses. We're celebrating midsummer the only way we know how: with science and culture.

Expect to learn about the neuroscience of sleep and dreams, the linguistics of Shakespeare and all about love potions.

Click here to find out more about joining our community and supporting the Ri.

The Royal Institution is closed 19 March

The Ri is closed this week on Tuesday 19 March.