Cork Discovers: Artificial intelligence, animal hibernation and baking in space

Tadhg Hickey, local Cork comedian and Cccahoots Creative Director, with Mairead Twohig of Cork’s 96FM alongside Grace Howard and Tessa O’Flynn in advance of the Cork Discovers Live event taking place later this month.  Picture Clare Keogh 

Learning to bake in space and a Blindboy podcast about science are some of the unusual events organised to engage all ages and highlight University College Cork’s cutting-edge research next week.

Cork Discovers, which is part of a series of events across Europe designed to highlight researchers' work, is now in its third year and will run from November 26-28.

Renowned STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and maths) educator, engineer, scientist and artist, Dr Niamh Shaw will bring her #BakingInSpace show with Great British Bake Off finalist and fellow engineer, Andrew Smyth. 

It will be live-streamed on corkdiscovers.org. 

Blindboy will host a live podcast exploring how food can impact our psychological wellbeing with Professors John Cryan and Ted Dinan.

And on Saturday, November 28, CCCahoots comedian Tadhg Hickey and Cork’s 96FM Mairead Twohig will be chatting with some of UCC’s leading researchers about everything from animal hibernation, artificial intelligence and genetics to soil analysis.

Speaking before the event, Mr Hickey said, “It is great to see the huge range of research that is being carried out Leeside. 

"We forget that there are people in universities like University College Cork working to make a positive impact on our daily lives through their research. 

"It's yet more evidence, as if we needed it, that Cork is just unreal!

Cork Discovers is a European Researchers’ Night aimed at showcasing the work of researchers to the public through fun and interactive activities while also demonstrating the impact research has on daily life. 

“I’m delighted to be involved in presenting the Cork Discovers Live show on Saturday morning and I hope families will enjoy the activities as much as I do,” he added.

Speaking ahead of the event, Professor Anita Maguire, Vice President for Research and Innovation at University College Cork, said: “Cork Discovers is an important event as it highlights the many discoveries that impact our daily lives. 

"Many of which begin as a research project at a University just like UCC.

“Researchers at UCC are at the forefront of global research and European Researchers’ Night celebrates their unique contributions to society. 

"Last year nearly 3,000 people attended Cork Discovers activities and workshops. 

"This year we hope to reach a wider audience form the comfort of their homes,” she added.

Cork Discovers is a European Researchers’ Night funded under the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. 

It has moved online this year due to the pandemic.

The Europe-wide public event intends to showcase researchers’ work to the public through innovative activities and games and to stimulate interest in research careers among young people.