The Sofia Science Festival began in Sofia Tech Park

09 May 2019

With the impressive demonstrations of chemists from The Rapid Squeal Corps, has been launched the ninth edition of Sofia Science Festival which is held from 9 to 12 May in the Innovative Forum “John Atanasoff” at Sofia Tech Park. The Science and Technology Park is partner and host of the initiative, organized by the British Council in Bulgaria under patronage of the Ministry of Education and Science in partnership with Sofia Municipality. The event is part of the Cultural Calendar of Sofia.

„This is a great start to the next edition of the festival and for us, as its host, it is a pleasure to see so many children, young people, students who love and promote science, they have made into their cause. I believe that during the festival days we will be able to ignite the sparks of love for science in many children. This cause of Sofia Tech Park, for which we work year-round in our interactive center for children – TechnoMagicLand, where in the permanent exhibition can be seen interesting and useful experiments for the application of science in life“, said the Executive Director of Sofia Tech Park Todor Mladenov at the official opening of the festival.

Deputy Education Minister Karina Angelieva pointed out to the participants and guests of the event that there is no more suitable day for the opening of such significant event on May 9th, Europe Day. “Today we are in the largest and most modern technology park in Sofia, because everyone can visit the events of this wonderful initiative. Our children are curious, discoverers and innovators and it is important to ignite science and their parents, “said Angelieva. She stressed that the professions of the future will be science and technology, so MES invests in young researches and discoverers.

Deputy Mayor of Sofia Todor Chobanov urged children to learn more about how science improves people’s lives. “It’s also a fun activity. I believe that they will build love and desire for science in the days of the festival”, Chobanov said.

„Europe is increasingly focusing on how we can become more competitive by investing in innovation and young people in research that provides the basis for future discoveries”, said Ognian Zlatev, head of the EC Representation in Bulgaria, who also congratulated the Europe Day to all attendees.

UK Ambassador to Bulgaria H.E Emma Hopkins noted that the Sofia Science Festival was created on the example of the British Science festivals which are currently over 80. She pointed out that 12 leading UK experts will participate with their own lectures in the program at the festival and will talk on topics like black holes, dinosaurs, chemistry, engineering. “The long list of partners is the greatest proof of how many people are working to implement the Sofia Science Festival. Einstein said he had no particular talent except that he was terribly curious. This is place where people present themselves, following their curiosity and passion for science”, said H.E Emma Hopkins

More than 100 Bulgarian and international scientists will participate in the next edition of the Sofia Festival of Science. This year’s program is dedicated to celebrities and events celebrated in 2019 by Leonardo da Vinci and the first around-world expedition of Magellan and Elkano, the Moon’s landing, the creation of the Periodic System of Chemical Elements, the foundation of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the International Astronomical Union.

Besides the events, the festival offers exhibitions, a scientific bookstore, and a multi-story exhibition with experiments and demonstrations where you can see and test science in action. The Discovery, Science, Exhibitions, and Zone 42 areas also include a DIY area where children and young people can work with technology to create and explore. All exhibition areas of the festival are free.

Sofia Tech Park is included in the exhibition with interesting demonstrations and experiments that will be presented by scientists from the Laboratory complex. With the help of the virtual reality lab team, visitors will be able to “visit” the ethnographic museum “Etara”. Researchers from the Artificial Intelligence and CAD Systems Lab will demonstrate the skills of robots as well as human brain research systems. The “In-vitro” Biological Activity and Toxicity Assessment Laboratory will also demonstrate interesting experiments as well as familiarize visitors with healing and aromatic plants. For the world of bacteria, scientists from the Bioinfotech lab, and they have prepared curious demonstrations. The TechnoMagicLand Interactive Children’s Center also participates with its own stand at the festival’s exhibition where it presents intriguing and entertaining experiments from the permanent exposition, which is located in the Experimental Building of Sofia Tech Park.

During the festival’s program presentations, visitors will have the opportunity to learn what secrets the black holes contain, whether artificial intelligence can have prejudices about life before and after the Earth, and curious stories behind some great scientific discoveries and many other interesting topics. There will be exhibitions devoted to the secrets of the depths of the sea waters, the cosmos and the lost worlds, the rare chemical elements and others. This year’s new development is the DIY and workshops where kids and adolescents will work with new technologies, create humanoid machines and lego robots, explore the virtual worlds of Minecraft, the Azure AI Services artificial intelligence platform, 3D technologies, and participate in various innovative activities.

The full program can be found online at www.sofiasciencefestival.bg

All events from the festival program are free for children and students.

The institutional partners of the festival are the Democritus Forum, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the Scientific Research Fund, the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski “, University of Mining and Geology” St. Ivan Rilski, Union of Scientists in Bulgaria, Embassy of the United Kingdom, UK Science & Innovation Network, Cervantes Institute, Italian Cultural Center, Hungarian Cultural Institute, Polish Cultural Institute, US Embassy, Ministry of Defense, Atlantic Club.

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