COMMUNITY FAIR – HANDS, HEARTS, MINDS

Take a journey through the body and explore what makes us human at University Place – a space for play, learning and discovery from the very young to the very grown up!

Interactive stands you can visit in University Place:

The heart experience

Your heart is one of the most important parts of your body. Discover how blood vessels transport blood around your body, understand how the heart works, and learn how your lifestyle can keep this vital organ healthy.

Imaging the brain in action

Explore our most complex organ: the brain! Find out how scientists use different imaging techniques to study its structure and connections and to understand how we think, move, and feel. See your marvellous brain in action!

Microbes and you

Discover the hidden world of microbes – tiny living things that are too small to be seen by the naked eye and explore how they grow, change and become resistant to antibiotics.

To clean or not to clean, that is the microbial question

Some viruses and bacteria help us, but others don’t! Test your handwashing skills, get ready for some gruesome results and see how well you can wash away the bad germs.

Why the microbiome matters

A microbiome is the community of all microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, viruses that naturally live inside us all primarily in the gut, on the skin, and in the mouth. Find out why the microbiome is vital to your overall health and well-being.

Biofilms – cities for microbes

Find out how we are tackling biofilms – complex communities of microorganisms that stick to surfaces and protect themselves with a slimy coating, making them resistant to antibiotics, disinfectants and the immune system, and a major cause of infections.

Breathe, build, and battle: the science of immunity

Explore the human immune system through interactive games. Whether you’re splatting viruses, checking lung power or building your immune system, you’ll discover the incredible ways your body detects and destroys infections.

Exploring your skin and bones

Make your own sun-safe indicator bracelet to show when to use sunscreen, or design a bracelet based on the DNA of your name and explore fingerprints under a microscope while comparing the temperature of different parts of your body.

Explore the science of sound and hearing

Try, test, and discover how we hear, and learn how to look after your hearing. Look inside the ear and explore hearing aids and cochlear implants and find out what hearing loss can sound like. Discover how animals hear the world around us – you might be surprised!

The communication station

Whether you’re curious about how children learn to talk or interested in inclusive communication, come celebrate the power of communication. Learn a few signs, play language games and discover how our voices and brains work together to help us make connections

Wounds and scarring: on the inside and outside

Play an operation style game with toy organs, explore a take apart human body model, try your hand at wrapping real bandages and tackling the shoelace “surgery” challenge, then watch how different dressings work.

Bee eye knowledgeable

Take a closer look at how your eyes work. Try a vision test, peek inside eye anatomy, learn about easy contact lens hygiene and handling tips, watch immersive 3D videos, and try out visual tricks that might surprise you.

Eye never knew that!

It is easy to take our eyes for granted – but what happens when something goes wrong? Try on vision-loss simulation glasses and see the world through different eye conditions, then explore the treatments helping people to regain their sight. Discover how animals’ eyes are shaped by their habitats and environment.

Hidden heroes: animals in science

Learn about the vital contribution animals make to scientific research, underpinning many of our medical and scientific breakthroughs. Then take a virtual tour of our unit, play some fun games, practice your colouring skills and help build a mouse cage.

Embryos got talent

Find out how scientists work with model organisms such as flies, zebrafish, and tadpoles to help answer big biological questions, uncover clues about how our body works, and offer ways for us to discover how we can heal the body.

Before you were born

Discover the incredible organ that connects a mother and baby – the placenta. Learn about how it develops, how a mother’s health can shape how it works and what can go wrong. You can also explore the specialist antenatal clinics which provide care for pregnant people and their babies across Greater Manchester.

Team mucus

Use microscopes and hands-on experiments to uncover the hidden world of mucus and its microscopic residents. Discover how mucus traps germs, protects our bodies, and feeds friendly microbes that help keep us healthy. It’s gooey, gross and fascinating.

Squishy science: how cells feel their world

Cells don’t live alone they’re surrounded by 3D environments and respond to the materials around them. Using gels and different materials, explore how scientists recreate these environments to look at how cells react to the world around them.

The udder team

Try out our milking station simulator and see how a model cow’s udder work. Discover scientific structures through jelly and squishy materials.

Promoting healthy communities

Step into our healthy communities hub and meet a range of healthcare practitioners from nursing and midwifery to the medical sciences as they share practical guidance on how we can all stay healthy.

Pharmacy, pills and photosynthesis

Discover what goes into the medicines we use every day. Have a go at building the active molecule in paracetamol using a molecular model and explore what else is inside a medicine with our jigsaw tablet and Victorian pill roller

Playing the long game with pharmaceuticals

What do the next generation of pharmaceuticals look like for people living with long-term conditions? We’ll show how medicines can be packaged into gels, skin patches and tiny depots that release medication steadily over time. Find out how these ideas could shape the future of healthcare.

How is digital innovation transforming mental health?

Explore how digital tools are helping to support mental health in our communities. We’ll share local and regional digital mental health projects and tackle misconceptions about apps, data and artificial intelligence.

AI and cancer: past, present and future

Discover how artificial intelligence and machine learning are helping scientists understand cancer by spotting patterns in huge data sets. See real research techniques using AI today and share your thoughts on its role in cancer care.

Tick tock: meet your daily biological clock

Are you a lark or an owl? Discover your own chronotype and how it changes throughout life as you explore how our body’s internal clock keeps us in sync with the natural world. Learn how this daily rhythm shapes everything from sleep and heart rate to school and sports performance, why light at night can confuse our clock and what causes jet lag.

Can you feel with your feet? 

We’re restoring sensation one step at a time for those who can’t. Take part in our interactive activities showing how technology could help people with limb loss or reduced sensation feel the ground again. Put your skills to the test in a fast-paced game of weight shifting and maze adventures to find out how scientists are creating new ways to sense the world with every step.

MedExplained Society

Meet the medical students passionately tackling medical literacy and educating young people and communities on health issues that need talking about.

Electric dreams

Take a step back in time to learn how past generations predicted the future of science and technology. Play with computers, toys and home entertainment systems from the 1980s and see how these ideas and objects from the first days of a digital revolution have influenced technology today.

Make your own cress head

Make your own cress head to take home and watch it grow. Hear how our student volunteers work on environmental projects across local communities, teaming up with groups like The Kindling Trust and Incredible Edible to grow food sustainably and help tackle food poverty.

Where should it go?

Have you ever thought about the things you throw away every day? Explore common myths about recycling and rubbish and share how you and your family dispose of your everyday items. Your ideas and experiences help us understand real habits and together we can look to make positive change on recycling.

Creating companies, producing products; realising the benefits of our research

The Innovation Factory helps turn the University’s research into new products through the creation of new companies and licensing deals. We’ll share examples of products that have come from our research and some of the challenges of starting a new company with a great idea – it’s not always as straightforward as they make it look on Dragons Den!

Innovation@Manchester

Innovation@Manchester brings the city’s powerhouse of ideas to life, showing how bold thinking becomes real world impact. At its heart, innovation is about turning ideas into new or improved products, services and ways of doing things that create value and solve real problems.  Find out how curiosity sparks collaboration and why  innovation is for everyone.

Badgemaking with the Whitworth

Our cultural asset the Whitworth joins us for the festival with hands-on badge making activities. Be inspired by the beautiful artworks and collections in the Whitworth an make your own take-away artworks.

Find the University Place on our interactive campus map and check out our accessibility information guide.