Night of Science 2024

The Night of Science is the largest science festival in Slovakia and brings unique news and presentations from the world of research and innovation. The festival takes place not only in Bratislava, but also in Banská Bystrica, Žilina, Poprad and Košice on Friday 27 September 2024.

This year you can also look forward to fascinating lectures, discussions, interactive presentations and experiments, workshops, technological attractions and digital activities.

The main theme of the European Science Night 2024 is COMPLEXITY.

Complexity deals with the study of systems with many interconnected parts, where the behaviour of the whole system cannot be understood solely on the basis of the properties of its individual parts. It is defined by interconnectedness and non-linearity, where small changes can have large and unpredictable effects.

Programme Bratislava:

The main programme will take place in Bratislava in the Old Market Hall, but you can also look forward to an interesting programme in the V-Club, Lab.cafe, Aurelio and Kafe LAMPY.

Old Market Hall:

9:00 – 9:10 Opening of the event by the moderator and introduction of partners

9:10 – 9:30 Presentation of the event concept: the V-club, other locations, competitions

9:30 – 10:10 Biflos chatbots and other pitfalls of artificial intelligence Speaker: Stanislav Pecko, Slovenské elektrárne

11:00 – 11:15 Construction Worker Sam 1

Presenter: STRABAG robotic dog (SPOT by BostonDynamics)

11:15 – 11:30 First Lego League in Slovakia

Peter Siebert, HEXADRON team

11:30 – 12:00 Space junk: You can’t get rid of dirt that easily (yet)

Speaker: Natália Gogolová, Slovak Organization for Space Activities (SOSA)

12:00 – 12:15 Chemistry show with Science Window (in front of the Old Market Hall)

Presenters: Ivan Gábriš, Scientific Window

12:15 – 12:30 Construction Worker Sam 1

Presenter: STRABAG robotic dog (SPOT by BostonDynamics)

LUNCH BREAK

12:30 – 14:00 Screening of the documentary “Reaching for the Sun”

14:00 – 14:15 Interview with a representative of the Orange Foundation

14:15 – 14:30 Interview with a representative of ČSOB

14:30 – 15:00 Revolutionary method of Czech scientists revealing the true structure of the chromosome

Lecturer: Vilém Neděla, Institute of Instrumentation, Czech Academy of Sciences

15:00 – 15:45 Interdisciplinarity and the resolution of complex crises in the EU

Speakers: Vladimír Šucha, Head of ZEK in Slovakia; Pavol Šajgalík, President of the Slovak Academy of Sciences; VAIA representative; sociologist

15:45 – 16:00 Construction Worker Sam 1

Presenter: STRABAG robotic dog (SPOT by BostonDynamics)

16:00 – 16:30 Complexity and psychological disorders

Speaker: Michal Hajdúk, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Bratislava

16:30 – 17:10 Panel discussion: Is sustainability in fashion?

17:10- 17:30 SLOW FASHION SHOW

17:30 – 18:00 Official “opening” of the festival on the main stage Conversation with the organizers and invited guests + Building ROBOTnik Sam 4

18:00 – 19:10 COMPLEXITY: The complexity of our situation in the midst of the climate crisis from the perspective of four scientific fields

Speaker. Kovár, N. Móller, & P. Gömöry

19:10 – 19:15 Artistic audiovisual work – “Complexity” by Ondrej Rudavský

19:15- 19:45 Presentation of the new European Solar Telescope Project

Speakers: Peter Gömöry, Astr. institute of SAS; Manuel Collados (ES), EST

19:45 – 20:10 Barbara Weiss with band

20:10 – 20:30 Stand-up -Tomáš Hudák

20:30 – 21:15 Biodiversity and conservation history

Lecturer: Tamar Dayan, Steinhardt Museum of Natural History & Tel Aviv University, Israel

21:15 – 22:00 Innovative solutions to mitigate the impacts of climate change

Speaker: Jennifer Green, Columbia University, USA

22:00 – 22:45 Musical performance

22:45- 23:00 LASER SHOW

LAMPY culture & club & coffee

Černyševského 42 – Tatra City building

Evening of the LEADERS – NERD NITE

27.9.2024 19:00

Three speakers will share their passion in their specialty in an entertaining way during 7200 seconds.

Lectures and Speakers:

Face to Face (also) with AI – Klaudia Kyselicová, PhD.
Secrets of the Mayan Codes – Mgr. Jakub Špoták, PhD.
Complexity around us from the perspective of a mathematician – Assoc. Mgr. Richard Kollár, PhD.
Moderator.

The hall opens at 18:30 – lectures start at 19:00

Aurelium:

9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. Free admission to the Aurelium Science Experience Center

3:00 – 3:45 p.m. Instructor-led Tangram puzzle workshop for children and adults

16:00 – 16:30 Interactive lecture: what do bees know that we don’t? Lecturer Milan Kozický – beekeeper and owner of Medáreň bee farm

17:00 – 17:30 Bees and biodiversity – how do microplastics affect biodiversity? Lecture by Prof. Alžbeta Marček Chorvátová, DrSc.

“You can observe complexity in the life of bees too. Learn how a complex system is formed and what role signals play in it. You will also learn how scientists can track microplastics in nature and how pollution affects biodiversity.”

18:00 -18:45 Instructor-led Tangram puzzle workshop for children and adults

19:00 Laser show and tour of Tesla’s world

20:00 Laser show and tour of Tesla’s world

21:00 Conclusion of the event

Activities throughout the day:

New interactive exhibit Bees and Physics

Collaborative upcycling. Bring in an old t-shirt you no longer use and we’ll create a TOGETHER mega embroidery

A search in Aurelius for Archimedes with rewards for successful searchers

Project ARphymedes+ discover the laws of physics in augmented reality

Lab.cafe workshop:

Lab.cafe is a café connected to a creative workshop where ideas take shape. Education and development of children’s technological skills are extremely important to us. During Science Night we will open our workshop for all little scientists. For example, they will learn about the workings of 3D printers, lasers or other machines in our workshop and they will also make something unique with their own hands. Workshops will be held without registration.

3D printing and 3D pens

During Science Night, you’ll find yourself in a room full of 3D printers that you’ll see in action. You’ll learn interesting facts you didn’t even know. There will be inspiring demonstrations of 3D printed products and you’ll also be able to try your hand at 3D pens.

Laser pendants

You’ll see why the laser is the most popular machine in the Lab.cafe workshop and what it can do.

Thanks to your smartphone, you will create your own design to laser onto a wooden pendant.

Wondering how? Come try out this nifty machine and you’ll go home with your own creation.

Making badges

Have you ever made your own badge? Create one with your own motif and find out how easy it is to work with the badge press. We also have ready-made designs or old books ready to be creatively recycled. You can also make use of seemingly unnecessary items.

Spinbotics

You will have the unique opportunity to see a robot in action! We will show you how the robot works. There will be interactive presentations and hands-on demonstrations where you will be able to try your hand at controlling the robot and learn more about the technology that is shaping the future.

LAB cafe:

The café will be open during the lectures, so you can enjoy a coffee or a cookie in addition to the great lectures.

16:00 – 17:00

When culture and art serve propaganda well (50 min)

Art and culture have accompanied human society since time immemorial, and it was no different in our turbulent 20th century. Our lecture will focus primarily on artistic and cultural reactions to totalitarian regimes, or rather on art that served totalitarianism and spread propaganda. We will look at what “attributes” were given to artists and works by one side and the other. We will also pay close attention to the national celebrations marking the anniversaries of various national holidays. Can we find parallels to the present? Can we catalogue the art? Can art be complicit in crimes?

5:00 – 6:00 p.m.

How propaganda changes the rules of communication games (50 min)

Propaganda uses mimicry to protect itself and distorts information to change our perception of our surroundings. It reacts swiftly and claims to have universal solutions to complex problems, when these shortcuts do not exist. This talk explores creative solutions to non-linear challenges and the concept of humanity. How do people in different cultures repeatedly define what it means to be human?

V club

Lectures

9:00 Test your digital skills with the IT Fitness Test!

10:00 Artificial Intelligence for Humanoid Robot Control

11:00 Let’s not fall for nonsense, let’s think scientifically.

12:00 Computational complexity and quantum computing

13:00 Climate change – what are plants responsible for?

14:00 How and why make scientists into entrepreneurs?

16:00 Anthropometry: the key to understanding child growth

17:00 Artificial intelligence from a neuroscience perspective

18:00 Caught in the net: the hidden battle with sepsis

19:00 Can technological developments help protect forest ecosystems?

Workshops

9:00:00 – 10:00 Let’s play with a quantum computer

10:00:00 – 11:00 Critical Thinking for Every Day

11:00 – 13:00 Participate in urban/community development projects yourself!

16:00- 17:00 Try out citizen science – you can get involved in research too!

19:00- 20:30 Why do people have such good brains?

Admission is free, but you have to register for some lectures at nocvedy.sk, as the capacity is limited.

Date: Friday, 27 September 2024
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.
Admission: free

Where to go with children? Discover the best places and events with us.