Summer programme just released!

Public events from May to August are now available to explore and book

Computer simulation of one possible scenario for the large-scale distribution of light sources in the Universe.
Andrew Pontzen and Fabio Governato

Life, death and evolution

Could extinct species be brought back to life? How was the code of DNA cracked? And what key steps in evolution have brought us to how we are now? Evolutionary biologists Beth Shapiro, Matthew Cobb and Nick Lane will explore the story of life and the science of de-extinction. Get hands-on and interactive with these questions and more at the summer Ri Lates: Life and death. Fancy learning even more? Come to our science short course ‘An introduction to evolution’ with Steve Cook starting on 6 May.

Summer Discourses

Discover the science of talk as it unfolds in mundane as well as dramatic settings with Elizabeth Stokoe. Join Yewande Akinola as she presents new ways we could engineer our built environment, including exciting ‘what ifs’ that could transform our lives in unimaginable ways. 

Big physics

Nobel Laureates will have you thinking deeply about our Universe. How deep does our understanding of the cosmos really go? Is there a deeper order of beauty in the Universe? Frank Wilczek’s groundbreaking work in quantum physics was inspired by this question and will take us through his and many others’ journey of discovery. Adam Riess and other leading cosmologists will join BBC’s Lucie Green for an evening of exploring new frontiers of our Universe, grappling with some of the biggest questions we face today about dark matter and dark energy. 

Philosophy of science

This June will see a series of events guest-curated by Michela Massimi, an expert in the intersection between contemporary philosophical problems and scientific practice. Spread over the course of three evenings, Hasok Chang explores cases from the history of science where scientists thought they were directly manipulating entities which modern scientists consider non-existence. Victoria Martin gives us a glimpse into the world of the Large Hadron Collider as she proposes the reason for continuing the world’s largest and most expensive experiment into the next decade. Finally, Jane Calvert and Alistair Elfick discuss synthetic biology and pose the question, could we change with design?

News

We're pleased to announce our summer programme of public events covering everything from philosophy of science and big physics to evolution and engineering.

We are excited to welcome two Nobel Laureates Adam Riess and Frank Wilczek, leader of the Higgs boson team Victoria Martin and resident scientist from BBC’s ‘The One Show’ Marty Jopson to lead us through a summer of spectacular public events.

All our public events between May and August are now live on our website and available to book, or you can download the full programme to plan your visits to the Ri during the glorious British Summer.

Remember that Ri Members get free entry to over 60 events a year, and membership starts at just £15 a year for under-18s.

Read on to find out more about what's in store.

Family-friendly

With a host of events to tempt all kids, both big and small why not make summer 2015 a summer of science for you and your family? Bring the whole family to our hands-on Family Fun Day, exploring light in new angles – expect lasers, mirrors and optical illusions. Come to an evening event with Sarah Wisemanto delve into the world of technology with and learn how she makes technology simpler for everyone with fun and playful examples of human error! Having problems dragging your teenager away from their smartphone? We have the answer! Go8Bit is a live comedy and videogaming phenomenon. Bring a charged smartphone or tablet for this interactive experiment! Be entertained by Marty Jopson, resident scientist on BBC's 'The One Show.'

The Royal Institution is closed 19 March

The Ri is closed this week on Tuesday 19 March.