July 23, 2019

Big Ideas Festival returns for 2019

Registrations open for free UOW community event.

The importance of green spaces in our cities, financial literacy, diseases of the brain, the nutrition of purple-coloured foods, delirium vs dementia, and educational inequalities are some of the ideas that will be discussed when the University of Wollongong’s (UOW) Big Ideas Festival returns later this year in October.

Registrations for the 2019 UOW Big Ideas Festival, a free event for anyone in the community to attend, are now open. The Festival will be held in University Hall on the main Wollongong campus on Wednesday, 16 October.

Ten of the University’s newest professors will present 10-minute talks about the big ideas behind their work, with the aim of both entertaining and challenging the audience.

Renowned international biomedical researcher Emeritus Professor Maree Smith AC, from the University of Queensland, will be the guest speaker, presenting a talk on the unmet medical need driving novel pain-killer discovery and development.

UOW Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research & Innovation Professor Jennifer L Martin AC said the Festival was a great opportunity for the community to find out first-hand about some of the trailblazing research being undertaken at the University.

“I am very excited to attend my first Big Ideas Festival, to find out more about the incredible diversity and impact of the research at UOW, and to meet the Wollongong community that supports the University so well,” Professor Martin said.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research & Innovation Professor Jennifer L Martin AC (centre) with Big Ideas speakers Health Ecroyd, Karen Charlton, Michael Higgins, Victoria Traynor, Theo Farrell, Sarah O'Shea, Thomas Astell-Burt and Millicent Chang. Photo: Paul Jones, UOW

Presented by UOW’s Research and Innovation Division, the Big Ideas Festival will also include interactive research stalls, so visitors can get up-close and personal with new equipment and technologies at UOW.

Live music, entertainment, food and drinks will be on offer throughout the evening, which will include the opportunity to network.

The event will also be live-streamed on the UOW Research Facebook page for those unable to attend on the night. Members of the public must register to attend the 2019 UOW Big Ideas Festival: https://uowbigideasfestival.eventbrite.com.au

UOW BIG IDEAS FESTIVAL SPEAKERS:

Thomas Astell-Burt:  “Health grows on trees”
Marijka Batterham:  “Using Data mining to help people lose weight”
Millicent Chang: “Finding financial literacy to understand superannuation”
Karen Charlton: “The Colour Purple: Foods for Better Brain Health”
Heath Ecroyd: “Harnessing stress to fight neurodegenerative diseases”
Theo Farrell: “Talking to the Taliban: The Path to Peace in Afghanistan”
Michael Higgins: “Decoding human cell communication with artificial materials”
Sarah O’Shea: “Educating the masses: Higher Education Access for All?”
Victoria Traynor: “Clarifying the confusion: Empowering nurses to detect delirium among older people”
Justin Yerbury: “An Infectious Idea: How protein folding drives MND progression”