Part V Who we are, what we do?

Silesian Science Festival Katowice

the mission of our festival is:

• to stimulate the local community’s interest in science by inspiring curiosity in people of all ages, • to present the regions contribution to science and its scientific achievements, and excellent academic centers that Silesians can be proud of., • to contribute to development of a knowledge based community, where key decisions and social dialogue are derived from reason and knowledge. • to emphazize importance of communicating knowledge and science.

about the festival

the 2nd edition of the Silesian Science Festival was held in 2017. The idea of the Festival was the result of joint efforts from the Silesian higher education institutions, aimed at an effective response to the Silesian Province need to promote science and education.

The Silesian Science Festival KATOWICE 2017 took place on november 30th to December 2nd, 2017. The first day entitled “Science on Stage” was held at the Stanisław Wyspiański Silesian theatre, and the following two days entitled “Silesian Science Days” at the International Congress Centre in Katowice. During the Festival in 2017 scientists and polularizers of science shared a plethora of knowledge. Presenting their inventions and latest achievements, as well as showcasing their innovative reserach results and its application in industry and economy. all popular science proposals were adjusted to different age groups. the programme featured, among others, shows, experiments, exhibitions, presentations, workshops and lectures in selected fields of knowledge: humanities and social sciences, arts, natural sciences, exact sciences, technical sciences, medical sciences.

The next edition of the festival takes place 11th to 14th January 2019.

Group of recipients

the recipients of the Festival were all residents of the region. the Festival was addressed to everyone, regardless of age, education and interests. The organizers wished to captivate visitors and ignite their interests in education, culture, art and inspire their curiosity of the surrounding world. among the invited were students, teachers, children with parents and grandparents, as well as representatives from the world of media and business.

number of direct participants

„Science on Stage” at the Silesian Theatre – 1,450 people Silesian Science Days at the International Congress Centre – ca. 30,000 people

Dear Elon,

Have you heard about the Polish Spodek? We are, of course, not thinking about a “saucer” [in Polish “spodek”], which is useful when drinking tea and eating biscuits and which is, naturally, also a unique proof of the genius of human civilization. What we mean is the Spodek which is located in the Polish city of Katowice. It is one of the most important concert and sports venues in Poland. It is a cultural landmark and a symbol of Silesia.

The Spodek arena was built at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s. It was one of the first facilities in the world with a roof made according to the tensegrity concept, which makes it a self-supporting structure. the dome of Spodek, made of steel and with a weight of 300 tons, and its external steel ring are joined with the use of 120 carrying ropes in the form of bar and string trusses which form the basis for roofing. the effect is impressive!

It was here that Metallica, The Cure and Genesis gave their first concerts in Poland, and it was here that bands like Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Depeche Mode and Green Day performed. Spodek is also the venue of large sports events (ice hockey, basketball and volleyball). It was here that in 1976 during the World Ice Hockey Championships we defeated the Soviet Union 6:4 (you can probably guess what a victory over this country meant for Poles at that time), and four years ago the Polish volleyball players became world champions in Spodek. Since 2014 Spodek has hosted the final tournaments of the Intel extreme Masters – world championship in computer games: the best players of Counter-Strike and StarCraft II fight for the title.

elon, we will reveal a secret to you. actually, our Spodek is not what everyone thinks it is. You have probably noticed its characteristic appearance, which is not accidental. this is our secret spacecraft and we came to the idea of organising a great space expedition. We would like Spodek to take us to the stars because, like you, we are explorers. When everything was ready for the trip and were about to take off, a cherry-red tesla roadster fell down on our Spodek and damaged our control systems. We don’t know where it came from because we have recently seen a cherry-red Tesla flying towards Mars.

Dear elon, we believe that as one of the greatest visionaries of our times you understand our longing for the stars and feel the same irresistible urge to achieve what in the world of Star trek was expressed as “to baldly go where no man has gone before”, and what was described by Stanisław Lem in his Return from the Stars as burning desire of daredevils setting off in great space rockets into the unknown.

this is why we would like to ask you to attend the Silesian

Science Festival Katowice 2019 organised by us, to visit our Spodek and, by the way “collect” your lost property (after landing on Spodek, tesla was slightly battered, we took it in for a service to a mechanic – it may now differ a bit from the original). ;)

We, t H e or G an ISI n G co MMI ttee ( Y ou can S ee u S on t H e p I cture), I nv I te Y ou to p o L and AND S I l ESIAN S CIENCE Fe S t I va L Kato WI ce 2019. pL ea S e, jo I n u S ! Ye S , Y ou can! :)

contact WItH uS

Silesian Science Festival KatoWIce 2019

Organizing Committee univeristy of Silesia ul. Bankowa 12 40-007 Katowice Poland

www.slaskifestiwalnauki.pl/en/ E-mail: sfn@us.edu.pl

Phone: +48-512-104-427

See you soon!