24th October 2002

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Belfast's innovative W5 discovery centre and the annual Festival of Science and Innovation in Derry are only scratching the surface of the Ulster public's interest in knowing about modern science.

That's the view of Professor Bernie Hannigan, Dean of the Faculty of Life and Health Sciences at the University of Ulster, who examined the role of science in Northern Ireland people's lives using data collected in the annual Life and Times Survey conducted jointly by the University of Ulster and Queen's University.

The survey - the first study of public attitudes to science in Northern Ireland - found that there was high interest in medical discoveries and new technologies. Over 84% of people are interested in new medical discoveries and 74% are interested in new inventions and discoveries. But this interest did not seem to influence our choice of leisure activities. Only 20% of people visited science, technology or natural history museums or science centres in the year under review. Some 89% of people had not attended a festival, lecture or evening class on a scientific subject in the same period and 87% had not gone to a technological, computer or electronic show or fair.

The trend away from visiting or participating in science increases as we get older. But once we leave full-time education we still need to learn about the science of new discoveries and technologies. Television programmes are the single biggest way in which we engage with scientific ideas.

Professor Hannigan said: "The long term sustainability of Belfast's W5 (WhoWhatWhereWhenWhy) centre or of the now annual Festival of Science and Innovation in Derry will depend on the enthusiasm and motivation of the population to visit and revisit".

"Northern Ireland has very few centres or events focusing on science and technology. It is difficult for planners to estimate whether an increased number of attractions would heighten people's interest or add to the number of centres trying to attract a very small section of the population."

Three out of every four people questioned agreed that science and technology are making our lives healthier, easier and more comfortable and over half (53%) believe that the beneficial effects of science outweigh the potential for harm.

For further information, please contact:

Press Office Department of Communication and Development
Telephone: 028 9036 6178
Email: pressoffice@ulster.ac.uk