Doors Open Day at King's Buildings

The Nucleus Building is the central focus of campus activity for staff, students and visitors alike. Drop by to pick up a map from this hub for the KB Doors Open experience.

This new shared learning, teaching and social hub is at the heart of The King’s Buildings campus and has transformed the student and staff experience. The building design incorporates several sustainability initiatives and achieves the highest EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) rating A. 200 tonnes of demolition material from the building that previously stood on the site was recycled and reused in the building substructure. Initiatives like these have reduced the overall carbon footprint of the construction process.  

Explore a range of hands-on activities showcasing the chemistry being researched here on Kings Campus, as well as activities demonstrating the chemistry fun-damentals, suitable for even young children. Stop by to hear from our chemistry researchers and students and discover how chemistry is all around us!

Meet the mathematicians! What does it really mean to “research maths”, and how and why do people do it? Speak to our mathematicians about their work, learn about our university’s illustrious mathematical history, and engage with props, demos, puzzles and games supported by the school’s outreach team. Witness the one-of-a-kind magic of the 3D zoetrope: watch solid shapes change and animate before your eyes! 

Come and meet the physicists! Join in our fun hands-on activities and discover the work our physicists undertake at KB. You will have the chance to help us build a giant LEGO model and explore strange worlds with our virtual-reality (VR) headsets, and more. 

Engineering is everywhere! From innovative teaching to carbon capture to intriguing electronics, come along and learn what our Engineers are researching here at the University of Edinburgh. Not only will you be able to chat with our staff and student Engineers, but we’ll also have hands-on activities and demonstrations so that you too can be an Engineer!

Discover the future of sustainable farming at SRUC - join us for an exclusive look at our innovative vertical farm cubes, a cutting-edge solution designed to revolutionise agriculture and urban food production.

At SRUC, we are committed to pioneering advancements in agricultural technology and sustainability. Our vertical farm cubes represent a significant leap forward, utilising advanced hydroponic systems to grow fresh produce in compact, controlled environments. These cubes not only maximise space efficiency but also reduce water usage and eliminate the need for harmful pesticides, making them an eco-friendly alternative to traditional farming methods.You'll learn about the science behind hydroponics, the benefits of vertical farming, and how this technology can address global food security challenges. Whether you're an agriculture enthusiast, a sustainability advocate, or simply curious about the future of food production, SRUC's vertical farm cubes offer a glimpse into the innovative practices shaping tomorrow's farming landscape. 

What is the University of Edinburgh doing to become more sustainable?Visit this table to find out how we’re tackling climate change, restoring biodiversity, and improving people’s lives both in Edinburgh and worldwide.Activities:

• Make a wish for the future on our wish tree (great for kids)
• Native seed giveaway
• Ask us questions about the University’s sustainability story

What does the University of Edinburgh do for local residents? Visit this stall to learn about all of the ways we support you: from free access to our museums and galleries, to using our rooms for free and getting financial grants for your local community group. Youngs kids can get creative on our craft table. 

Where Science meets Magic!

We are offering a family-friendly magic show designed for all ages, using magic props to explain complex scientific concepts. Join us for a family-friendly experience at 10.15, 11.15 and 12.15 in the Larch Lecture Theatre. 

Our interactive stand is designed to captivate all ages, especially children 5 and up. Through engaging demonstrations, we will be using magic to make complex scientific concepts, both fun and accessible. This unique blend of biophysics and chemistry aims to inspire curiosity, challenge what we know, and ignite a sense of wonder in young minds, while also captivating adults with the mysteries that still lie beyond our world. 

Explore our outdoor campus history exhibition, which uses unique aerial images to show the evolution of the campus over a century. Hour-long walking tours of campus history and architecture leave at 10.30am, 12 noon and 2pm from outside the Nucleus Building. 

Did you know that the World Orienteering Championships took place in Edinburgh this summer? Explore the King’s Buildings campus tracing the same route map elite athletes raced recently! Younger visitors can also get competitive puzzling through a maze mapped out with stakes and tape in the green heart of the campus.

Completed in 2014, the FloWave Ocean Energy Research Facility is the world’s most sophisticated onshore laboratory for replicating ocean conditions and testing ocean technologies. One of the largest research infrastructures belonging to the University, the FloWave facility contains a 25m diameter test tank which uniquely recreates scale versions of complex ocean conditions, including multi-directional wind-blown waves, long-period ocean swells and fast tidal currents. Consequently, the facility is much in demand by industry and researchers from across the globe and, in combination with Orkney’s European Marine Energy Centre, helps maintain Scotland’s position at the forefront of clean ocean energy research, development and innovation.

The Edinburgh Genome Foundry (EGF) is a research facility at the School of Biological Sciences of the University of Edinburgh. EGF specialises in the modular assembly of DNA constructs using a highly automated robotic platform.We build genetic constructs for academic and industrial customers to equip cells or whole organisms with new or improved functionalities. We work on projects as diverse as programming stem cells for use in personalised medicine, vaccine development, gene therapy (including viral vectors) and living biosensors. 

The Ashworth Labs were built in the late 1920s to house the University of Edinburgh’s Zoology Department. They now house part of the ever-expanding School of Biological Sciences at the University. On Doors Open Day, the main teaching lab will host interactive family activities facilitated by our researchers, specimens from our natural history collection, and there will be the opportunity to visit the Manning Natural History Gallery.

The Grant Institute’s Cockburn Museum holds an extensive collection of geological specimens and historical objects which reflect Edinburgh’s prominent position within geological sciences. Collections include minerals, rocks and fossils as well as maps, photographs and archives. A variety of activities, suitable for all ages, will explore topics from fossils to volcanoes. Come and take part in the following events! 

• Lab tours: see labs which support our research, measuring and modelling the earth’s systems.
• Hot ice: using pressure to make tiny ice crystals at room temperature.
• Fossil handling: chat with paleontologists about fossils and prehistoric animals, and get your own fossils identified.
• Fossil forests: learn about the carboniferous forest which once grew in Scotland's central belt.
• Microscopes: find out how rocks appear under the microscope.
• Volcano tanks: learn about pyroclastic flows and volcanic eruptions using water tanks

Parental note: these shows are aimed at over 18s and may involve adult language.

Don't miss performances by University academics as part of the Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas, following their appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. 

From 1.30 in the Larch Lecture Theatre, we are delighted to entertain audiences with these shows: 

Bull*** Bots

Chatbots like ChatGPT and Google's Gemini dominate the news. But the answers they give are, literally, bull****. Historically, artificial intelligence has two strands. One is machine learning, which powers ChatGPT and art-bots like Midjourney, and which threatens to steal the work of writers and artists and put some of us out of work. The other is the 2,000-year-old discipline of logic. Professor Philip Wadler takes you on a tour of the risks and promises of these two strands, and explores how they may work better together. 

Physical Experiments are so passé

In the whacky world of science, we had theorists like Isaac Newton and experimentalists such as Robert Hooke. Professor Pankaj Pankaj (The University of Edinburgh) champions a third category: simulators. He believes most experiments are as passé as a disco ball in a modern nightclub. From evaluation of nuclear power plants, to design of orthopaedic implants, Pankaj declares computer simulations as the superheroes of science, engineering and medicine – closer to reality, budget-friendly, and with fewer risks than a cup of herbal tea. But is he right? Join Pankaj and debate the future of science!

Computer says that will be £300 

Should mathematical models be allowed to make decisions for or about you? They already are. Dr Lars Schewe builds mathematical models that underpin automated decision making. But do they make the world a better place? From how we travel to what we pay for energy, more and more decisions that impact us are made by algorithms. And behind the algorithms are mathematical models that can improve decision making, or make it a lot worse. So how can we hold the computers to account without making everyone a mathematician?

Plants Are Total B******s!

Not just a pretty flower! You may think that plants are passive beings, but in fact they are vicious thugs. They do all manner of horrible things to insects. They steal from and murder each other. Any crime you can name that humans are guilty of, chances are there’s a plant that does it, too. Are you brave enough to hear the truth about these vicious, conniving organisms that we have to share our planet with? If so, join multi award-winning Dr Richard Milne (The University of Edinburgh) for a journey to the dark green side. 

A chance to see behind the scenes at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh and find out about the people who work there. Activities include speaking to astronomers and engineers, crafts, handling meteorites, telescope dome tours and hearing from start-up companies.

Link to further details and tickets

Discover the intersection of research, innovation, creativity and stunning views at the University of Edinburgh on Doors Open Day! We invite you to experience the ground floor of the breathtaking Informatics Forum. Take advantage of exclusive guided tours that include a visit to the scenic roof terrace—an absolute must-see for photographers and enthusiasts alike! After soaking in the views, continue on the tour through the terrace link for an exclusive peek into the Bayes Centre tours including their robotics lab interactive touchscreen display. Then wrap up your visit venturing along to Inspace, Design Informatics studio and workshop facilities, to explore this high-tech venue, and glimpse behind the scenes at the ways researchers and students are thinking about the future and combining the fields of art, design, data science and technology.

Sunday 29 September