The following is reprinted from the The University of Manchester:
The University of Manchester
President’s Weekly Update
28 July 2016
This week has been dominated by ESOF 2016 (EuroScience Open Forum) of which I was the President and ‘Champion’, along with Professor Luke Georghiou, Vice-President for Research and Innovation, who was co-Champion.
The conference hosted about 3,000 attendees from 83 countries with 700 speakers, over 150 sessions and over 400 science journalists and communicators. It was based mainly at Manchester Central, with many events taking place at the University. Some delegates also visited the National Graphene Institute, Jodrell Bank Observatory and the headquarters of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) at Jodrell….
I attended many fantastic presentations – sometimes trying to be in several places at once – and met many friends from science, business and the press. Certainly the funniest session was about the Ig Nobel prize – a parody of the Nobel Prizes given each year for ten unusual achievements in scientific research and which aim to: “honour achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think.” This session included contributions from Professor Sir Andre Geim who has received both an Ig Nobel Prize and Nobel Prize….
— Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor