Scientists, experts and event organisers are available for interview before and throughout National Science Week.
Here are Victorian highlights from the national festival that reaches more than 3 million people through 2,500+ events. Science Week will run 15 to 23 August 2026.
Direct contact details for each event listed below and online.
Contact national publicist Tanya Ha for contacts and tips: [email protected] or 0404 083 863.
Highlights for Victoria:
- Quantum physics and life collide
In graphic novel The Friendship Paradox - Brunswick East - Climate, AI and inequality:
Why science needs society – Melbourne - The best champagne glass
And other science surprises in a bottle of bubbly - Melbourne - Flying fox
Inspired installation explores life after collapse – Dandenong - Soil isn’t just dirt:
The living world underground – Carlton - Still life with stem cells:
Artist Patricia Piccinini spent a year in a lab – Parkville - Tiger quolls, swamp wallabies and potoroos - Apollo Bay
- Water:
Four artists dive in – Sale - Cell therapy
One step closer for stroke patients – West Wodonga - What is Australia’s most amazing wildflower? – online
- Launch event: 6:30pm Thursday 13 August, Melbourne Museum
More on these below including contact details for interview.
Or find more stories in your area at ScienceWeek.net.au/events.
Visit the Media Centre for all media releases and images.
Victoria’s launch: 6:30pm Thursday 13 August, Melbourne Museum
Inspiring Australia (Victoria) kicks off National Science Week with researchers from the Museums Victoria Research Institute, Zoos Victoria and the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria.
Hear about their important research before exploring Our Wondrous Planet, Melbourne Museum’s most expansive science and biodiversity gallery.
Where: 11 Nicholson Street, Carlton
Media enquiries: Museums Victoria Media & Communications team, [email protected] or 0466 622 621.
National Science Week in Victoria: highlights
Quantum physics and life collide in The Friendship Paradox - Brunswick East
In The Friendship Paradox (Allen & Unwin 2026) scientist-turned-artist Aśka (pronounced Ash-ka) tries to use physics to navigate life.
Aśka is launching their latest graphic novel with a workshop teaching teens how very simple drawings can capture movement, emotion and some complicated ideas.
Aśka’s previous title Stars in Their Eyes (Scholastic, 2023) was a 2024 CBCA Notable Book, Stonewall Honor Book and nominated for the Comic Arts Awards of Australia.
Monday 10 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/the-science-of-comics-draw-ideas-bend-brains-in-a-good-way/brunswick-east
Media enquiries: Michael Earp, [email protected] or 03 7048 4703
Aśka (she/they) is available for media interviews.
Climate, AI and inequality: why science needs society – Melbourne
From climate change and AI to health, energy and inequality, the biggest challenges facing Australia aren’t just technical – they’re deeply social.
So why are the social sciences still too often an afterthought in scientific problem-solving?
This panel brings together leading thinkers across the social sciences, natural sciences, engineering and public policy – chaired by Academy of the Social Sciences President Professor Kate Darian-Smith, with panellists including Victoria’s Lead Scientist Dr Amanda Caples – to explore what genuinely interdisciplinary thinking looks like. Moderated by Dr Shane Huntington OAM.
Friday 21 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/why-science-needs-the-social-solving-complex-problems-with-interdisciplinary-thinking/melbourne
Media enquiries: Vanessa Barratt, The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, [email protected] or 0450 018 752.
The best champagne glass and other science surprises in a bottle of bubbly - Melbourne
From the best shape for a champagne glass to the physics of fizz, there’s a lot of surprising science packed into a lovely bottle of bubbly (and a few misleading myths).
Emma Donnelly is available to explore the science of Champagne, uncorking history, science, and the secret to a perfect pour. Emma studied Champagne through the University of Champagne-Ardenne in France before founding Culinary Science to combine her love of flavour, psychology and sensory science.
Tuesday 25 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/champagne-science-bubbles-myths-and-magic/melbourne
Media enquiries: Emma Donnelly, [email protected] or 0408 955 234.
Emma Donnelly is available for media interviews.
Flying fox inspired installation explores life after collapse – Dandenong
Artists Charlie Lawler and Wona Bae invite audiences to explore ecosystem science through contemporary art.
Their installation ‘Primary Succession’ explores environmental loss through the lens of one of the region’s most vital yet often misunderstood species: the grey-headed flying fox.
Essential pollinators and seed dispersers, these nocturnal animals function as a keystone species whose survival is closely tied to the health and regeneration of entire ecosystems. The artists imagine a future where eco-intelligence and ecological memory replace human-centred systems of control.
Grounded in long-term research into Melbourne and Greater Dandenong landscapes, the work examines a world shaped by colonial extraction, urban expansion and climate crisis. It reflects on how life reorganises itself after ecological rupture.
The project brings together technical partners including Chisholm Institute, Swinburne University of Technology, and RMIT’s Future Play Lab; and conservation partners, including the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne and the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation.
Saturday 15 August – Saturday 22 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/wona-bae-and-charlie-lawler-primary-succession/dandenong/
Media enquiries: Arts in Greater Dandenong, [email protected] or 03 8571 5320.
Soil isn’t just dirt: the living world underground – Carlton
Beneath our feet, vast interconnected networks of fungi and microbes quietly sustain life – shaping healthy soils, supporting food systems and locking away carbon.
The Secret Life of Soil takes audiences underground to meet them.
ABC Radio National’s Hilary Harper hosts Gardening Australia’s Hannah Moloney and Museums Victoria’s Simon Hinkley as they explore how modern agriculture has disrupted these systems and how regenerative practices might repair them.
The ticket includes entry to the multisensory Our Wondrous Planet gallery from 8pm to 9pm.
Thursday 20 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/the-secret-life-of-soil/carlton
Media enquiries: Museum Media, [email protected] or 0466 622 621
Media enquiries: Sasha Heath, [email protected] and 03 7046 1664.
Patricia Piccinini creates still life with stem cells after a year in a lab - Parkville
World-renowned Australian artist Patricia Piccininni spent a year immersed in stem cell research laboratories to create her newest work, Células Madre, which revisits her seminal early work Still Life in Stem Cells 25 years later.
Patricia will explore hope, art and science in conversation with leading stem-cell expert Professor Melissa Little, as part of the EMERGENCE(Y) exhibition at the Melbourne Science Gallery.
Saturday 15 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/in-conversation-patricia-piccinini-and-professor-melissa-little-2/parkville
Patricia Piccininni and Melissa Little are available for interviews.
Media enquiries for Ms Piccininni: Katrina Hall, [email protected] or 0421 153 046
Media enquiries for Prof Little: Helen Flett, [email protected] or 0408 341 182
Tiger quolls, swamp wallabies and a meat-eating snail - Apollo Bay
The Otway Range’s woodlands, gullies and coastal grasslands are home to long-nose potoroos, tiger quolls and swamp wallabies, living in a sanctuary maintained by the non-profit social enterprise Wildlife Wonders.
You might also spot the highly-endangered meat-eating Otways black snail the fixes prey like slugs and earthworms in place with long backwards-facing teeth arranged in a V on the underside of its foot.
Within the predator-proof zone the Conservation Ecology Centre researches Australian biodiversity and conservation. During National Science Week, children and student groups can join guided walking tours of the sanctuary for free.
Saturday 15 August-Sunday 23 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/walk-with-wildlife-experience-3/apollo-bay
Media enquiries: Sasha Heath, [email protected] or 03 7046 1664.
Water: Four artists dive in – Sale
Four Gippsland-based artists – Lesley Duxbury, Elisabeth Scott, Peter Cummings and Lotje McDonald – open a major exhibition on the theme of “Water” at the Bond Street Event Centre, exploring the subject across cultural, societal, philosophical and scientific perspectives.
The opening night includes an artist talk and panel discussion, with all four artists on the panel, encouraging conversation between artists and audience about how they use design, colour, symbolism and metaphor to convey meaning. The ticket includes supper; bookings are essential.
Friday 14 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/water-exhibition-opening-exhibition-and-engaging-panel-discussion/sale
Media enquiries: Allison Yanez, The Bond Street Event Centre, [email protected] or 03 5182 8770.
Stem-cell treatment one step closer for stroke patients – West Wodonga
A stem cell therapy targeting the damage caused by acute strokes will begin Phase II clinical trials in Victorian hospitals later this year, offering new hope for stroke patients around the world.
Co-lead of the clinical trial Chris Sobey will discuss his research into inflammation in the brain and the development of the new treatment in a free event at La Trobe University’s Albury-Wodonga campus.
Amnion stem cell therapy, which was developed in collaboration by La Trobe University, Hudson Institute of Medical Research and Monash Health, recently passed a critical safety benchmark.
Now the second stage of clinical trials will establish the efficacy of the treatment for ischemic stroke patients.
Wednesday 19 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/chris-sobey-dedicating-a-lifetimes-work-to-science-and-new-treatments-for-stroke/west-wodonga/
Media enquiries: Julia Brown, [email protected]
What do you think is Australia’s most amazing wildflower? – online
Vote to decide Australia’s most amazing wildflower.
ABC Science wants Australians to discover our hidden “flower power”, the kind you find in botanical gardens rather than hippie communes.
With the help of experts, ABC Science has selected ten flowering plants from across the country.
Not just another banksia or waratah, but blooms from the unsung understory that also do something unbelievable. These ten wildflowers are more than just a pretty face; each one hides a surprising superpower. The public will decide which is the most amazing.
Voting will start just before National Science Week, with the winning bloom announced Friday August 21 in a live broadcast on Radio National.
Wednesday 5 August – Friday 21 August. To find out more and vote, go to www.abc.net.au/wildflowers.
For interviews with Dr Ann Jones, contact Rob Caulley, ABC Publicity, [email protected].
About National Science Week
National Science Week is Australia’s annual opportunity to meet scientists, discuss hot topics, do science and celebrate its contribution to our lives. Science drives economic and social change – from safe and nutritious food to reducing cancer deaths; from smart phones to AI; from under Antarctica’s ice floes to distant planets.
First held in 1997, National Science Week has become one of Australia’s largest festivals. Last year about 3 million people participated in more than 2,500 registered events and activities.
National Science Week 2026 runs from Saturday 15 to Sunday 23 August. Event details can be found at www.scienceweek.net.au.
National Science Week is proudly supported by the Australian Government, alongside key partners Questacon, CSIRO, the Australian Science Teachers Association, and ABC Science.
