Events
The Microworld Week
It is Microworld Week. The event is organized by the Silesian University of Technology in cooperation with the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Silesia. The event takes place as part of the European City of Science Katowice 2024 celebrations.
The week covers topics related to the construction of animate and inanimate microworlds that participants can get to know and look at, including the use of microscopic techniques.
The Microworld Week was inaugurated with a lecture entitled “The plant world is becoming more and more micro,” delivered by Prof. Dorota Kwiatkowska from the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Silesia.
- One of the duties of university employees, in addition to research and classes with students, is to popularize knowledge. It is very important that we do not close ourselves off and share our knowledge outside the university and show what scientists do. This is important in times when many phenomena may be incomprehensible. We want everyone, not only scientists, to be aware of the world around us and be able to understand it, said Prof. Kwiatkowska.
During the Microworld Week, there will be plenty of lectures and workshops during which participants will be able to take a closer look at microorganisms, use various types of chemical reagents to identify various substances, and learn about science in practice.
- The aim of this week is, first of all, to make each of us realize that, firstly, learning is not that scary, and secondly, it is very useful in our lives. What we use in practice today is also science, because these things were once invented, developed, described and now we can use them. During the Microworld Week, we want to present microorganisms first of all, because they, especially bacteria, can be associated negatively, e.g. with diseases. However, we show that microorganisms have great potential, e.g. in environmental protection. Based on them, we can develop various types of substances that will support the development of plants, which is very important in the perspective of a changing climate, said Dr Justyna Michalska from the Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering at the Silesian University of Technology.
- I talked about biomimetics, i.e. a field that tries to imitate natural solutions in technology or science, i.e. how to adapt nature's solutions to our benefit. I prepared a set of simple experiments for the participants, mainly in the field of smart materials. Participants could prepare substances that change colour when heated or a liquid that changes colour when shaken. I always try to prepare my classes so that everyone can get something interesting from them, said the scientist.
- I think that organizing events such as Microworld Week is very important. There is a common belief that science is something secret and not everyone has access to it. By organizing such interesting events, we can present our work - summarizes Marek Ples.
During the Microworld Week there will be, among others: detective workshops – “On the trail of erased traces” or classes entitled “The microworld in our kitchen.”
Detailed program and registration on the website: https://program.miastonauki.pl/tydzien-mikroswiata .
The curators of the event are Dr Hab. Eng. Anna Gnida and Dr Justyna Michalska from the Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering, and the producer: Dr Eng. Anna Byczek-Wyrostek.
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