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Much of the work carried out within UCD Conway Institute is being facilitated through publicly funded research grant awards. At UCD Conway Institute, we are committed to developing a proactive association with the public in order to inform them about our research.
Biophotologica - Photography Exhibition by Pablo Rojas
Opening Hours:
Friday, November 23rd 2012: 4 - 5pm (opening ceremony & lecture)
Monday, November 26th - Friday, November 30th 2012: 9am - 5pm daily
The Institute is not open to the public during the weekend
As part of the Dublin City of Science Festival 2012, former UCD researcher and freelance photographer Pablo Rojas will be hosting a photography exhibition at UCD Conway Institute, running from November 23rd to 30th 2012. The opening ceremony will take place on Friday, November 23rd 2012 at 4pm followed by a short lecture about his work.
'Biophotologia' explores the elusive interplay between science and art by discovering their common matters of contention and working means. The exhibition portrays the imaginative process shared by both disciplines where the conventional frontiers between them can no longer be detected. The work is characterised by a subtle depiction of these differences and the productive tension that results from their constant friction.
The exhibition will include a wide variety of artworks, including photographs from the ZoonosisArt initiative showcased at Science Gallery, Trinity College and the EU Week for Veterinary Medicine, and a set of Anaglyphs illustrating the “FISH” diagnostic technique exhibited at the History of Medicine Museum in Berlin. The exhibition will also feature a series of human portraits created in an aesthetic experiment between volunteers and bacterial biofilm images, and several videos that creatively re-imagine diagnostics. The event will be accompanied by a short presentation entitled "Progressive synergism between photography and microbiology, an aesthetic approach". More information about 'Biophotologia' can be found at: www.biophotologia.com
Artist Biography:
Pablo Rojas is a PhD candidate at the Humboldt University in Berlin and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biotechnology and a Masters of Science in Bacterial Epidemiology from the School of Veterinary Medicine, UCD. He also studied photography at university and has been collaborating with other artists and working as a freelance photographer for the last eight years. His scientific career has taken him on a journey across several continents, from South, Central and North America to Eastern Europe and the UK. His images are currently being used by a diverse number of prestigious scientific and political bodies, including the Wellcome Trust, FAO, the Government of Ecuador, various NGOs, UCD Research, and The Health Research Board in Ireland. His work is characterized by its constant emphasis of the very thin, fluctuating line that “divides” art and science. Recently, three of his projects have been selected and exhibited by the Centre for Contemporary Art in his hometown of Quito, Ecuador. Find out more about the work from Pablo Rojas at www.dadafoto.com
Reflections on Research - Innovation Dublin 2009
To coincide with Innovation Dublin 2009, UCD Conway Institute's exhibition entitled, Reflections on Research will juxtapose novel scientific research by graduate research students against visual perceptions of science by primary and secondary pupils.
These two collections have been compiled as part of the annual UCD Conway Institute’s AccesScience competition, which challenges graduate students to explain their scientific research without the use of jargon to an audience of the general public. Posters in the associated poster competition for primary & secondary school pupils have been displayed on the Dart, as part of the Science Track initiative between UCD Conway Institute and Iarnoid Eireann.
The exhibition will be complemented by podcasts from graduate researchers explaining their novel research simply. These researchers were finalists in the AccesScience ’09 competition. Listen to discover how these UCD graduates are working on innovative research in diverse areas from fighting bugs with SuperGlue® to computers that can build our vocal fingerprint; from finding ways to deal with the 91,000 tonnes of solid waste generated from prepared potatoes in Ireland every year (enough to fill 1200 Boeing 737 airplanes!) to destroying the defenses of the malaria parasite by making it sensitive to free radicals.
AccesScience ’09: Scientific Research Unravelled
Hear pioneering scientific research from seven postgraduate students working in UCD as they rise to the challenge to explain their work without the jargon! See how science is changing the world we live in from developments in treating diseases to environmentally friendly chemistry.
These finalists came through gruelling internal heats to take their place on the stage with AccesScience host, Mr. Pat Kenny, RTE. A celebrity judging panel select the winners on the basis of their ability to explain their work in everyday language.
AccesScience '08: Podcasts
Neutrophils - the Jekyll and Hyde of Inflammation (MP3)
Hear Belinda Maher explain how statins can be used to prevent excess neutrophil migration during cardiac surgery, thus preventing damage to the heart.
Hear Billy Fleming relate how the work being done to synthesise important molecules that will help to reduce our dependency on nature to supply drugs.
Hear Jane Ferguson describe the role played by genes in determining our metabolic activity, helping us to understand how diet and genes interact when processing the food we eat.
Hear Shane Kenny talk about ways of creating biodegradable plastics using chemical processes and microbes, which help to reduce the amount of plastics going to landfill.
Scaffolding for a Healthy Heart (MP3)
Hear Jennifer Hickey talk about her work with two different drugs that can improve the way in which stents operate to prevent arteries thickening and blocking.
Learning and memory; revealing the secret (MP3)
Hear Marco Monopoli describe how the brain learns new information and then forms memories that allow this information to be recalled the next time it is needed.
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