Programme

Understanding the Mathematics of the Universe.

Provisional Programme of events

10:00 - 10:05 Welcome

10:05 - 10:30 Talk 1: Is Anybody Out There? The Search for Life in the Universe by Samuel George
10:30 - 11:00 Talk 2: How to build a Universe by Ria Johnson

11:00 - 11:15 Break, exhibition stands (in coffee lounge)

11:15 - 13:00 Activity session 1 - see below for options

13:00 - 14:00 Lunch, there are a variety of options around campus, more info below. Exhibition stands (in coffee lounge) and Solar Observing.

13:15 - 13:45 - Departmental Tour - The Astrophysics and Space Research Group here at the University of Birmingham has a rich history of space flight, learn more about the department.

14:00 - 14:45 Talk 3: How Round Is Your Circle? by Dr Chris Sangwin

14:45 - 15:00 Break, exhibition stands (in coffee lounge)

15:00 - 16:45 Activity session 2 - see below for options

16:00 - 17:00 Talk 4: Understanding the Universe: 50 fantastic images

17:00 - 17:15 Concluding remarks, winners...

Activity sessions:

Morning (11:15 - 13:00 Activity session 1)

Making Rockets - Fundamentals of how rockets work and building an air rocket

Observing the Universe - How do you measure the height of the clocktower? How do we know what the Sun is made of? (Building a sextant and a spectrograph)

Night Sky Tour in a mobile planetarium - What's up tonight? How do you find the North star? Is that really a planet?

Code Breaking - Codes, ciphers, and codebreaking have been around for millennia learn how to break simple encryption.
Afternoon (15:00 - 16:45 Activity session 2)

Landing on Mars - How do spacecraft land on other planets? Can you build a craft... and save the egg?

Shape of the Universe - Learn cosmology with a pen and a balloon.

Night Sky Tour in a mobile planetarium - What's up tonight? How do you find the North star? Is that really a planet?

Mathematics Puzzles

Exhibition Stands: During the day there will be a number of exhibition and trade stands. There will also be a raffle.

Lunch Options: The University campus offers a wide range of selections of food, from sandwich shops (the is a Subway/Spar in the Guild of Students) to cooked meals (Avanti at University Centre). The University is also a five minute walk away from Selly Oak where you will find a vast range of restaurants and take outs.

Event Location: The day will be taking place in the Poynting Physics Building (R13 on the University map), the talks will take place in the Large Lecture Theatre (S02). Directions to the University can be found on the University's visitor information pages and a campus map can be found here.