The Award Lectures 2009

The Award Lectures are prestigious prizes for talented communicators with an interesting story to tell about their research.

One of the most popular components of the programme, these lunchtime lectures are open to all. Read about how primates can communicate, explore the dark side of the Universe, find out how animals decompose and their importance for decoding the history of life, learn about memory and discover that being green doesn't mean boring.

The Charles Lyell Award
Lecture

'What rots? How dead animals decompose and its importance for decoding the history of life

Dr Maria McNamara, University College Dublin

Fossils are essential to our understanding of the evolution of life on Earth. Discover the processes involved in exceptional fossil preservation and how this can illuminate the ecology and physiology of ancient animals.

The Joseph Lister Award Lecture The new IQ- Working memory Dr Tracy Alloway, Univeristy of Stirling Learn about our ability to remember and manipulate information and how through brain training , you can improve your prospects in classroom and in the workplace.	The Lord Kelvin Award Lecture Exploring the dark side of the Universe. Dr Alex Murphy, University of Edinburgh, Gain an insight into the topic of dark matter, exploring the evidence which suggests that it exist and what it means for our understanding of our Universe.
The Isambard Kingdom Brunel Award Lecture Lean, mean and green Dr Kerry Kirwan, University of Warwick Find out how the use of a ‘helix of sustainability’ framework can result in something groundbreaking like the WorldFirst F3 racing car – designed and made from sustainable and renewable materials.	The Charles Darwin Award Lecture Primate communication: links to human language? Dr Katie Slocombe, University of York Find out about chimpanzee vocal communication and how comparing human communication to non-human primate communication can help us uncover how language – one of our most remarkable capacities –evolved.

The British Science Festival is organised by the British Science Association. Find out more about our award schemes for schools, events around the country and the many ways we connect science with society.