AFAD signed a memorandum of understanding with the Starmus festival
The organizers of the international festival of science, music and art Starmus established official cooperation with the scientific and artistic community in Slovakia. During the first two weeks of December, representatives of the festival signed a memorandum of understanding with the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, as well as with the Comenius University in Bratislava and the Slovak Academy of Sciences. Part of the memorandum is the organization of lectures by world-renowned scientific personalities directly in these scientific and artistic-scientific institutions.
The seventh year of the STARMUS festival will be held in several Slovak cities from May 12 to 17, 2024. ESET, as the main partner, brings the festival to Slovakia. In addition to the main program, which will take place in Bratislava, events will also take place in other cities across Slovakia. It is here that the universities, which are an essential partner for the Starmus festival, have an important role to play.
"The aim of the festival is to inspire the young generation and arouse in them enthusiasm for science and art. Universities and scientific institutions are the places where young scientific talents and leaders are already active today, who will help humanity face current global challenges. That's why we want to bring the Starmus festival experience directly to them. I believe that the signing of the memorandum with three Slovak scientific institutions is only the beginning. We are already working on establishing cooperation with other universities," said Garik Israeli, founder of the STARMUS festival.
Bohunka Koklesová, rector of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, Pavol Šajgalík, president of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, and Radomír Masaryk, vice-rector for public relations of the Comenius University in Bratislava, signed the memorandum of understanding on behalf of the scientific institutions.
Starmus will bring dozens of Nobel Prize laureates, Apollo program astronauts and world-famous musicians such as Jean-Michel Jarre and The Offspring to Slovakia. To date, eight Nobel Prize winners have already confirmed their participation: Emmanuelle Charpentier, Donna Strickland, Kurt Wüthrich, Edvard Moser, Michel Mayor, Kip Thorne, Elizabeth Blackburn and Adam Riess. Several of them will also visit Slovak universities and scientific institutions throughout Slovakia during the festival.
You can see the entire list of speakers on this page. More information about the Starmus festival is available at Starmus.com.
About the Starmus festival
Ever since the first homo sapiens looked up at the starry sky, we have been amazed by the vastness of the universe. Even today, we remain humbled by the vastness of the universe, especially as advances in physics and astronomy have made us realize the vast distances involved—even to our nearest neighboring stars.
Starmus is a science, art and music festival created by Garik Israeli PhD, astrophysicist at the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics (IAC) and Sir Brian May PhD, astrophysicist and lead guitarist of the iconic rock band Queen. It consists of presentations from astronauts, cosmonauts, Nobel Prize winners, thinkers, and notable personalities from various scientific fields and musical fields. Starmus brings together these extraordinary people to share their knowledge and experience and to search together for answers to humanity's great questions.
