FUTURES Discovery Day
About this Event
What will you find out at ? Join us for this free family-friendly event in Bristol.
You’ll find dozens of interactive stalls and activities from researchers at the Universities of Bristol and Bath, where you can ignite your curiosity and explore everything from quantum science to climate change, solar power to superconductors, germs to dark matter, and animal emotions to artificial intelligence.
- Make your own wind turbine, fly a drone, design your perfect meal, or take part in real research about human behaviour.
- ‘Beat the teacher’ in a game exploring physical activity, step inside a dark matter experiment, see a levitating train in action, or test your code-cracking skills.
- Try fairground-style games to learn about allergies, design the vehicle of the future, or spot the bad bugs in an infectious disease challenge.
Alongside the stalls, enjoy a programme of short, family-friendly from some of our amazing researchers throughout the day:
- Greenhouse Gas Detectives – Elena Fillola (11:15 & 2:00)
- Going Underground: The Hunt for Dark Matter – Vedanshu Mahajan (12:00 & 2:45)
- Pond scum: Friend or Foe? – Ash Winter (10:30 & 3:30)
No specific booking required for talks, first come first seated.
This is a rare chance to meet the people behind world-changing research, ask questions, and try things out for yourself.
Timings: Tickets are available for the morning session (10:00-12:30) or the afternoon session (1:30-4:00). Your ticket will also give you access to any of the Discovery Talks.
Please note: This event takes place on the second floor of We The Curious, in the dedicated events space. A ticket to Discovery Day does not give entry to We The Curious’s permanent exhibition floors. Tickets for We The Curious can be purchased separately by visiting
Practical information: Refreshments are available for purchase in the We The Curious cafe and in neighbouring Millenium Square. You are welcome to bring your own food and drink to consume at the event, and the open air terraces on the second floor will be available for you to enjoy if you need a pit stop, or just a quiet moment and a bit of fresh air. A buggy park and unstaffed cloakroom will be available at the venue.
What you will discover at our Discovery Day stalls
Beat The Breeze
Plot a flight path for a tiny drone and discover how inspiration from birds is shaping the future of flight.
Blown Away!
Build a pinwheel, race wind-powered sail cars and find out how composite materials are leading to a more sustainable future.
Breathing Rivers: Bristol and beyond!
Explore how urban canals and rivers release and absorb greenhouse gases – just like breathing – and what this means for our environment.
Bright-Eyed & Bushy-Tailed?
Can you tell how a squirrel is feeling just by looking at it? Find out how researchers investigate emotions and wellbeing in wild animals and try out the experimental equipment they use to study these cute critters.
Can You Crack the Code?
Use cryptography to solve the puzzles, open the locks and work together to uncover the hidden pirate treasure!
Climate Detectives
Solve the mystery of the greenhouse gas emissions and find out how scientists detect, measure and track down emissions across the world.
Cool Physics: How to float a train
Try hands-on magnetism activities and discover the invisible forces behind levitating superconducting trains.
Driving Change: The future of sustainable transport
Design a vehicle for the future and find out what our transport choices mean for our environment, with the Advanced Acceleration Propulsion Systems researchers from the University of Bath.
Eye Spy: Tracking reading and cognition
Do you love to read? Ever wondered how your brain does it? Try out eye-tracking technology and discover why reading is one of the most extraordinary things the human brain can do.
Going Underground: The Hunt for Dark Matter
Meet the researchers journeying a mile underground to search for the universe’s unseen matter, and step inside a replica of the detector to experience an atoms-eye-view of this cutting-edge experiment.
The Healthy Balance
Can you spot the dodgy data? Explore how researchers weigh up health evidence, play hands-on games to uncover hidden bias, and decide who – and what – you can trust.
Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives
Prepare to meet the mouth microbes – take on the slime challenge, make your own ‘sticky bacteria’, and brush some giant teeth!
Making Waves in Aviation
Ever sloshed water around inside a cup or bath? Sloshing – the movement of water – is now being harnessed by aircraft engineers to reduce vibrations in aeroplanes, leading to more comfortable and sustainable flights. Get hands on with demos and find out more.
Meet Your Virtual Neighbour!
Explore a virtual world where AI-powered characters think, plan and move like real people, and find out how current research may help to develop smarter, safer and more personalised technologies in the future.
(Please note that use of VR headsets is age restricted to those 13+ years old and over for health and safety reasons, in accordance with manufacturer’s guidance.)
Pathogen Busters: Tiny jab, big job
Hunt for ‘germs’ in the ball pit and find out how vaccines fight infection and how new ones are developed.
Pedestrians: Clever crowds or mindless mobs?
Contribute to real research by playing a computer game! Explore the behaviour of pedestrians and help researchers build a picture of how we behave in crowds.
Plates and Places
How do our food choices outside the home differ to how we eat when we’re at home? And how can we make healthier choices? Build a meal from toy food and have your say.
Quest Quantum: Magic of the Miniverse!
Explore the fascinating world of quantum science and technology, from quantum gaming to jigsaw puzzles made of light, and discover how quantum could reshape the world around us.
Ready, Set, Move!
Find out about physical activity in schools and challenge yourself to ‘beat the teacher’!
‘Seeing is believing?’
Enter a world of visual illusions and Virtual Reality to find out how understanding human perception can help us create smarter technologies.
(Please note that use of VR headsets is age restricted to those 13+ years old and over for health and safety reasons, in accordance with manufacturer’s guidance.)
When Solar Meets the Stone
Can historic buildings go green without losing their character? Explore innovative solar technologies and cast your vote to help researchers find the right balance between protecting our heritage and creating a low-carbon future.
FUTURES is part of European Researchers’ Night, a pan-European event Night taking place in 40 countries and more than 460 cities all over Europe and beyond simultaneously, funded by the European Union to bring science and society closer and heighten young people’s interest in science.
FUTURES 2026-27 is funded by the European Union under the Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions, Grant Number 101305354. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 0.00
