Another edition of our annual science festival has passed! The 8th Silesian Science Festival Katowice, which took place on 7-9 December at the International Congress Centre, was the culmination of the entire year of celebrations of awarding Katowice the title of European City of Science 2024. Participants we able to take part in over a thousand scientific activities located on over twenty thematic stages, nearly two hundred exhibition stands and special zones, prepared by over two thousand scientists and science communicators.<\/p>\n
This year, the space of the Silesian Science Festival Katowice was organised in a unique way – a real City of Science<\/strong> was created in the International Congress Centre, divided into Districts, the City of Science Market of Ideas and boulevards.\u00a0<\/p>\n Each day of the 8th \u015aFN began with a special opening lecture given by an invited guest, who shared the secrets of science with us and allowed us to dive into the Festival. On Saturday, 7 December, participants were able to listen to a lecture by Prof. Jeff Forshaw entitled\u00a0\u2018Black holes. The key to understanding the Universe\u2019<\/strong>, during which the scientist explained the mysterious phenomenon of black holes found in outer space. On Sunday, 8 December, we could participate in a lecture by Prof. Andrzej Dragan\u00a0\u2018Does the present exist?\u2019<\/strong>, during which we learned the latest information about the theory of relativity. On Monday, 9 December, we listened to a lecture by Prof. Lewis Dartnell\u00a0\u2018How the Earth shaped the history of humanity\u2019<\/strong>, during which we looked at our life on Earth and its dependence on processes occurring in the environment.<\/p>\n The culmination of the ECSK 2024 celebrations<\/b><\/p>\n At the end of the first day of the 8th edition of the Silesian Science Festival in Katowice, the Night of the City of Science was held. It was the first summary of the entire year of celebrations of awarding Katowice the title of European City of Science 2024. During the event, we took a look at current activities, presented proposals for further creative ventures in the City of Science, and confirmed further cooperation between universities and local governments in regards to the scientific transformation of the Silesian Voivodeship.<\/p>\n The plans to continue the ECSK 2024 idea were confirmed by the City of Science Declaration<\/a>, which was signed by the rectors of the universities associated in the Academic Consortium Katowice City of Science and all those interested in the further development of our region (we still encourage you to sign the declaration via the online form<\/a>!) . The Night of the City of Science was made even more speial by a wonderful concert of film music performed by Jan Stok\u0142osa and musicians of the Stok\u0142osa Collective Orchestra.<\/p>\n During the 8th \u015aFN, the lasting effects of ECSK were also presented, such as: The Inauguration of the Scientific Programme for Silesia, the concept of the Green Science Zone and the map of the Network Science Centre. At the Festival, we also came back to the most interesting activities from all 50 Weeks of the City of Science, which took place, among others, on six stages of the City of Science Market of Ideas. We also summarised the Youth in the City of Science Programme and participated in many inspiring meetings, including: with Polish and global winners of the FameLab competition, EU TalentON winners and representatives of EUCYS (European Union Contest for Young Scientists).<\/span><\/p>\n Novelties during the 8. \u015aFN Katowice<\/b><\/p>\n One of the novelties presented during the 8th \u015aFN Katowice was the Literary Caf\u00e9<\/strong>, co-organised with three literary festivals: Aglo Festival, Przestrze\u0144 S\u0142owa (Space of Word) Festival of the Silesian Library and Festiwal S\u0142owa im. Jerzego Pilcha Granatowe G\u00f3ry (Jerzy Pilch Blue Mountains Word Festival), where many conversations and literary meetings took place, presenting topics such as local colour palette and history of our region.<\/p>\n Additionally, Festival participants had the opportunity to visit three new special zones. In the Gaming Zone<\/strong> we talked about video and board games, and we also entered the area of \u200b\u200bamazing technologies that allowed us to immerse ourselves in virtual and board game worlds. During the activities available in the AI \u200b\u200bZone<\/strong>, we deepened our knowledge about artificial intelligence and tried to find answers to questions regarding the wisdom of artificial neural networks or the role of AI in the professions of the future. Moreover, as part of the attractions prepared in the Cosmos Zone<\/strong>, we could take a closer look at the Mars rovers and see amazing astronomical shows in the mobile planetarium belonging to Planetarium \u2013 The Silesian Science Park.<\/p>\n During the 8th \u015aFN Katowice, we also had the opportunity to see what our planet looks like from the perspective of space. This was made possible thanks to a huge, spectacular globe (7 meters in diameter!) placed above the multifunctional hall at the International Congress Centre.\u00a0The mobile installation Gaia<\/strong> \u2013 a project by multidisciplinary artist Luke Jerram \u2013 is 1.8 million times smaller than the real Earth, and each centimetre of the internally lit sculpture corresponds to 18 km of real surface. Standing 211m from the work, we could see the Earth as we would see it from the surface of the Moon!<\/p>\n Meetings with special guest<\/b><\/p>\n A unique part of the programme of the 8th edition of \u015aFN Katowice were meetings with invited guests. We talked about the secrets of various fields of science with scientists from abroad, including: Prof. J. Georgi Bednorz, Nobel Prize winner in physics, Yolanda Ohene, PhD, Prof. Norman Davies, Fran Scott, Prof. Jeff Forshaw, Cosimo Accoto, Prof. Alicja Tardy and Prof. Lewis Dartnell, as well as from Poland, including: Dawid My\u015bliwiec, PhD, Aga Szu\u015bcik, Prof. Andrzej Dragan, Tymon Tyma\u0144ski, Adam Mirek, PhD Eng., Agata Romaniuk, Karol W\u00f3jcicki, Agata Ko\u0142odziejczyk, PhD, Krzysztof M. Maj, PhD and Ewelina Zambrzycka-Ko\u015bcielnicka.<\/p>\n The 8th \u015aFN Katowice competitions<\/b><\/p>\n During the three festival days, we also found out who are the winners of prestigious competitions organised as part of the Silesian Science Festival Katowice.<\/p>\n On Saturday, we awarded the POP Science Award to outstanding science communicators. The recipients of the award were: Karol W\u00f3jcicki for the website and profile ‘Z g\u0142ow\u0105 w gwiazdach’ (‘Head in the Stars’) (Website or Blog), \u0141ukasz Lam\u017ca, PhD – creator of the video blog ‘Czytamy natur\u0119’ (‘We Read Nature’) (Video Blog), podcast ‘Pogadajmy o naukce’ (‘Let’s Talk About Science\u2019) (Radio Broadcast or Podcast), Anna Byczek-Wyrostek, PhD Eng. from the Silesian University of Technology (Think Globally, Act Locally \u2013 Academic Community) and Edyta \u0141askawiec, PhD Eng. (Think Globally, Act Locally \u2013 Residents of the Silesian Voivodeship). We also presented the POP Science Special Award – Outstanding Science Communicator to Tomasz Ro\u017cek, PhD. More information about the winners of this year\u2019s edition of the award can be found on our website<\/a>.<\/p>\n On Sunday, we we able to participate in the official gala of the Silesian Scientific Award<\/strong> – an award granted by universities co-organising \u015aFN to people who promote Silesian science on the national and international arena. In the \u2018Employees\u2019 category, the awards went to: Piotr Ceglarek, MA and Jan Dyba\u0142a, MA from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Katowice, Wac\u0142aw Adamczyk, PhD from the\u00a0 Academy of Physical Education in Katowice, Prof. Eng. S\u0142awomir Boncel from the Silesian University of Technology, Prof. Mariusz G\u0105sior, MD, PhD from the Medical University of Silesia, Prof. Krystian Heffner, MD, PhD from the University of Economics in Katowice, Prof. Anna Wypych-Gawro\u0144ska from the Jan Dlugosz University in Cz\u0119stochowa and Prof. Miron Lakomy from the University of Silesia in Katowice. In the \u2018PhD Students\u2019 category, the award went to Adam Kaczmarek, MSc Eng. from the Jan Dlugosz University in Cz\u0119stochowa. The Special Award of the Mayor of Katowice went to Grzegorz Wojnar, PhD, DSc, Eng., Assoc. Prof. of the Silesian University of Technology, whereas the winners of the Special Award \u2018Meritorious for Silesian Science\u2019 were Marcin Krupa, PhD Eng., Mayor of Katowice, and Kazimierz Karolczak, Chair of the Board of the Metropolis GMZ. We presented the profiles of the Silesian Scientific Award 2024 winners in the article<\/a> on our website.<\/p>\n On the same day, we announced the results of the OFF Science<\/strong> – Review of Garage Inventions, in which innovative and creative technical solutions were awarded. The recipients of the award were: Large-format CNC machine by Antoni Ciesielski (Netizen Award), AiBach by Pawe\u0142 Obsadny (Jury Award) and Pom\u00f3\u017c! Uratuj psiaka (Help! Save a dog) by Emilia Szweda, Maja Szweda, Juliusz Szweda and their scientific supervisors (Audience Award). You can read more about the award ceremony and the winning inventions on our website<\/a>.<\/p>\n On the last day of the Festival, the final of the \u2018Youth for the Future of Silesia\u2019<\/strong> competition took place. Of the ten winning projects selected in this year\u2019s edition, we awarded the one that received the most votes from the festival audience. The Special Award went to students of the 4th Secondary School in the King John III Sobieski Complex of Schools No. 6 in Jastrz\u0119bie-Zdr\u00f3j for the project Pom\u00f3\u017c! Uratuj psiaka (Help! Save a dog). You can read about all the winning projects on our website<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n \u015aFN for everyone!<\/b><\/p>\n The Silesian Science Festival Katowice is invariably a free and accessible event – during the Festival we took care of facilities for people with disabilities and special needs – we provided, among others: interpretations into sign language, hearing related technologies, spaces accessible to people with physical disabilities and friendly to people on the autism spectrum, as well as assistance for people with disabilities.<\/p>\n The Silesian Science Festival Katowice is a unique place where you can develop passions and discover the richness of various fields of science. Thank you for working with us to create one of the largest events of this type in the country and Europe!<\/p>\n Check out photo reports from individual Festival days!<\/p>\n \n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>[\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″]\r\n Photo by Wojtek Korpusik<\/span><\/p>\n \n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_btn title=”Saturday (7 December)” style=”classic” shape=”square” color=”blue” align=”left” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fkatowice_ecs_2024%2Falbums%2F72177720322435768%2F”][vc_btn title=”Sunday (8 December)” style=”classic” shape=”square” color=”blue” align=”left” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fkatowice_ecs_2024%2Falbums%2F72177720322435626%2F”][vc_btn title=”Monday (9 December)” style=”classic” shape=”square” color=”blue” align=”left” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fkatowice_ecs_2024%2Falbums%2F72177720322454367%2F”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″]\r\n ![\"Grupowe](\"https:\/\/us.edu.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/Galerie\/SFN\/Podsumowanie-ogolne-900x600.png\")
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