Great National Science Week EDUCATION stories up for grabs now around Australia
- Snowy Hydro invites students to run an energy company
- Design a robot for disasters, oceans or space
- What if science class started 65,000 years ago?
- A farm under Sydney’s CBD
- Quantum leap: careers on tech’s weirdest frontier – Chatswood, NSW
- Meet an Aussie astronaut and the little robot going to the moon at the Airshow - Surfers Paradise
- Will there be creative jobs for today’s students? - Adelaide & regional SA
- Researchers and teenage artists create art together – Hobart, TAS
- Flying taxi made by Sunshine Coast students – Warana, QLD
- Map a mine in the dark – Milton, QLD
- A porcupinefish walks the red carpet – North Adelaide, SA
- How will we grow a garden on the Moon? – Adelaide, SA
- Climate, AI and inequality: why science needs society – Melbourne, VIC
- Balloon veggies persuade kids to eat healthy - Canberra, ACT
- Real CSI careers – Bentley, WA
- Sea cucumbers create future for Groote Eylandt after mining - Alyangula, NT
- Can toddlers think about thinking?
More on these below and visit ScienceWeek.net.au/events to find more stories in your area.
Scientists, experts, performers and event organisers are available for interview throughout National Science Week.
Read on for direct contact details for each event, or contact Tanya Ha, [email protected] or 0404 083 863.
Visit the Media Centre for all media releases and images available for media use.
Snowy Hydro invites students to run an energy company – online
Block by Block hands students 20 blocks and the role of an energy company decision-maker, challenging them to prioritise sustainability issues from renewable energy to community safety – until a surprise “curveball” scenario forces real-time trade-off.
The free interactive lesson, developed with Snowy Hydro’s Snowy STEM Academy, is designed as a 30–50-minute session for years 7–10 (adaptable for years 6–12) and explores STEM careers and the intersection of science, business and ethics. Teachers register to receive the resource, which stays available after National Science Week.
Available from 13 August (online in-class resource): www.scienceweek.net.au/event/block-by-block-building-a-sustainable-future-with-snowy-hydro
Media enquiries: Erica Gibbs, Snowy STEM Academy, Snowy Hydro, [email protected]
Design a robot for disasters, oceans or space – online
Could you design a robot to help in a disaster, explore underwater or travel through space? CSIRO Robot Responders lets young people step into the role of a robotics engineer, designing robots for missions inspired by real CSIRO research.
Choosing from three environments – caves and lava tubes, marine environments or space – participants learn how robots move, sense the world and reach places too dangerous for people. Free hands-on activities, design challenges, a card game and an online game are available for schools, libraries, community groups and home.
A robot-design competition offers prizes including 3D printers and education vouchers, with book hampers for the first 200 registrations.
Runs until 23 August (online, nationwide): www.scienceweek.net.au/event/csiro-robot-responders
Media enquiries: Esther Etkin, CSIRO, [email protected] or 0416 355 725.
Available for interviews:
- Ruth Carr, CSIRO Director of Education and Outreach
- Dr Hashini Senaratne, Research Scientist (Human-Robot Interaction)
- CSIRO robotics researchers, including those featured on the new CSIRO Robot Responders online game
- CSIRO Education and Outreach representatives
Footage of CSIRO robotics researchers, vision and demonstration footage of robotic technologies, as well as photographs and video of young people participating in CSIRO Robot Responders activities are available for media use.
What if science class started 65,000 years ago? – online
Aboriginal and First Nations knowledge systems are usually bolted onto science lessons as an add-on. This free online panel asks what happens when they are put into genuine conversation with canonical science instead – in classrooms, in curriculum and in teacher training.
Speakers include Kamilaroi woman Professor Melitta Hogarth, Director of Ngarrngga at the University of Melbourne; Jingili man and curriculum specialist Professor Joe Sambono of the Queensland University of Technology; Gangalidda woman, primary school teacher and Monash University lecturer Jeanene Booth; Taungurung engineer Professor Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch of Monash University; and David Broun of the Western Australian Department of Education’s Ngaparrtji Ngaparrtji Two-way Science program.
Facilitated by Wakka Wakka educator and researcher Jay Phillips, Deputy Dean (Indigenous Strategy) in the Faculty of Education at Monash University.
Wednesday 19 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/showcasing-first-nations-and-aboriginal-knowledge-in-science-education
Media enquiries: Sara Tolbert, Monash University, [email protected]
A farm under Sydney’s CBD
Sydney’s CBD has a secret underground indoor farm, right next to Darling Harbour.
Urban Green Sydney will open the doors to its hidden hydroponic farm in Barangaroo. Set in an underground carpark, it demonstrates how cities can strengthen food security by growing food in small or underused spaces through innovation, smart design, and simple growing systems.
Owner and founder Noah Verin can talk about the use of growing mediums like coconut coir instead of soil, transforming what would otherwise be a waste product, like coconut husk, into a valuable resource for growing plants. It’s a simple example of circular farming in action, where waste is reduced and materials are reused in smarter ways.
Visitors will explore how plants grow, how modern food systems work and how simple hydroponic methods can be used at home. And they can taste a range of the most popular greens.
Schools, offices, community groups and other organisations can also take part in a nationwide microgreens growing experiment by ordering and using Seed to STEM Grow Kits .
Underground farm tours: Monday 17 August to Friday 21 August : www.scienceweek.net.au/event/under-the-pavement-farming-solutions-to-the-future-of-food/barangaroo
Sydney CBD pop-up: Wednesday 19 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/seed-to-stem-urban-farm-pop-up/sydney-cbd
Media enquiries: Rebecka Walter, [email protected] or 0421 241 456. Images for media .
Urban Green Sydney owner Noah Verin and client chefs are available for media interviews. Noah is a former chef and studied environmental science while at university.
A live hydroponic Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) system will be on display, giving people the chance to see how water, nutrients, and lighting work together to support healthy plant growth in compact urban setups.
Quantum leap: careers on tech’s weirdest frontier – Chatswood, NSW
Are there jobs in quantum? Students in Years 8 to 12 can get hands-on with quantum technology and hear directly from people working in the field at ‘Quantum Future Talent: From Curiosity to Career’, hosted by the Sydney Quantum Academy.
The event gives an accessible introduction to quantum computing and cybersecurity, career talks from industry professionals, and interactive demonstrations – including quantum devices, VR experiences and explainer presentations that use skipping ropes and giant balls to demystify the science.
Attendees can also connect with NSW universities including Macquarie, UNSW, the University of Sydney and UTS to explore study pathways into the growing field.
Tuesday 18 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/quantum-futures-curiosity-to-career/chatswood
Media enquiries: Emily Cook, [email protected] or 0403 907 098
Professor Peter Turner, Director of Sydney Quantum Academy, is available for media interviews.
Photo/filming opportunities: hands-on quantum demos including VR experiences (sample footage on SQA's YouTube ). Additional accredited-media images/footage available . Prof Turner's bio is on the Sydney Quantum Academy website.
Meet an Aussie astronaut and the little robot going to the moon at the Airshow - Surfers Paradise, QLD
Queensland students will be able to test-drive a model of the first Australian-built moon rover (nicknamed the Roo-ver), as well as meet astronaut and 2026 Australian of the Year Katherine Bennell-Pegg, at the Pacific Airshow Gold Coast. The space-faring Australians are attending the airshow to showcase the science and engineering behind flight, both in and out of atmosphere, at the NXTGEN STEM LAB. Schools can register to attend for free on the Friday as part of the Students with Altitude program. The Pacific Airshow Gold Coast runs for three action-packed days, with some of the best pilots in the world flying super-fast planes in tricks, flip and stunts high over the ocean.
Friday 14 August – Sunday 16 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/pacific-airshow-gold-coast/surfers-paradise
Media enquiries: Jesse Burns, [email protected]
Interviews with performers can be arranged on request. Footage and images available for media use here .
Will there be creative jobs for today’s students? - Adelaide, Mawson Lakes, Whyalla & Mount Gambier, SA
What role should AI play in creative work? How do we balance innovation with ethical responsibility? What choices do we want young people and communities to make as technology develops? And what is Australia’s place in this global technological transformation?
Prime Minister Albanese is establishing an AI office. What do the experts say? Ask Australian AI researchers Dr Rebecca Marrone and Dr Maria Vieira.
Dr Rebecca Marrone is a Senior Lecturer at Adelaide University’s Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning (C3L). She has a background in educational psychology, and her research is primarily in the fields of creativity, wellbeing, and human and artificial cognition.
Dr Maria Vieira holds a PhD in STEM and a master’s degree in the psychology of creativity. As a member of the Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning (C3L), her research explores creativity, human-AI collaboration, and gender equity, with a particular focus on STEM fields in which women remain underrepresented.
Rebecca and Maria will be speaking at the ‘Future Minds: Creativity and ethics in the age of AI’ series of lectures and student workshops (for years 9-12), inviting audiences to reflect, discuss and engage with some of the most important questions shaping our technological future.
Media enquiries: Annabel Mansfield, [email protected] or 0479 182 489.
Rebecca Marrone and Maria Vieira available for media interviews.
Researchers and teenage artists create art together – Hobart, TAS
Beaker Street’s CoLab initiative pairs research scientists with high-school art students, who visit labs and field sites to create artworks that communicate scientific concepts. The results go on show in the free CoLab exhibition.
Students from New Norfolk High School, Hobart Big Picture School and Hobart City High School worked directly with local scientists to make the work. On show during TMAG’s opening hours and during TMAG After Dark on Friday 14 and Saturday 15 August.
Runs 6–13 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/beaker-street-science-photography-prize-finalist-exhibition-2/hobart
Media enquiries: Matt Fraser, [email protected] or 0401 326 007.
Talent available for interview – details in the Beaker Street media pack .
Flying taxi made by Sunshine Coast students – Warana, QLD
A group of Sunshine Coast high school and university students have built a full-scale electric flying taxi, assisted by industry mentors.
Their eVTOL - Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing aircraft, often called an air taxi - is capable of flying autonomously from Maroochydore to Brisbane in just 20 minutes.
The full-scale aircraft seats one person. It can fly at speeds exceeding 250 km/h, cover distances over 200km, reach altitudes of up to 3,000 ft, and take off and land on a helipad. It is built primarily from carbon fibre composite, with aerospace-grade aluminium, titanium, glass, and a small amount of steel.
The project is an initiative of Manufacturing Excellence Forum, developing its own eVTOL in partnership with the University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast Council, and the Queensland Government, backed by the effort of more than 50 students.
Meet the people involved and see the prototype and scale models at the Future Flight Science Fair at Javelin Aerospace & MKRS Space Sunshine Coast. Visitors will also have the chance to design, 3D print, and launch their own glider, experience a six-degree-of-freedom flight simulator, and other activities.
Saturday 15 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/future-flight-science-fair
Media enquiries: Bhavna Reetoo, eVTOL Sunshine Coast Manufacturing Excellence Forum, [email protected] or 0451 042 406.
Map a mine in the dark – Milton, QLD
Emesent’s Hovermap and GX1 scanners build a 3D map of a space as they move through it, including underground where GPS cannot reach. At the company’s Brisbane headquarters the engineers who built them will run them live and narrate what the sensors are seeing.
The evening also covers how digital twin technology is being used to record and protect heritage sites, with exhibit stations on surveying, SLAM technology, mining safety and public safety applications, and engineers on hand throughout.
Run with Surveyors Australia, and pitched at students weighing up career pathways as much as at industry professionals.
Thursday 20 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/surveying-the-future-he-high-value-skills-and-advanced-technologies-driving-the-science-cities-and-businesses-of-tomorrow
Media enquiries: Amy Uhlhorn, Emesent, [email protected] or 07 3548 9494.
A porcupinefish walks the red carpet – North Adelaide, SA
Audiences can walk the red carpet for the official premiere of two new animated short films, Little Scientists, Big Blue and Porci Explores Marine Parks, made with Fastbreak Films for National Science Week 2026.
Little Scientists, Big Blue follows Porci the Porcupinefish on an imaginative underwater journey through kelp forests and deep-sea ecosystems, while Porci Explores Marine Parks showcases South Australia’s 26 state and Commonwealth marine parks and the science behind protecting them.
Hosted by the Marine Discovery Centre and National Parks and Wildlife Service SA, the family event includes a panel of marine scientists, live music from Sea Star Rock, VR reef dives, marine touch tables and Indigenous science displays, emceed by Lucy Rasheed from Sea Star Rock.
Saturday 22 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/national-science-week-premiere-little-scientists-big-blue/north-adelaide
Media enquiries: Carmen Bishop, Marine Discovery Centre, [email protected] or 0422 885 409
Carmen Bishop and scientists involved in developing the script are available for media interviews.
How will we grow a garden on the Moon? – Adelaide, SA
Plants are essential to life on Earth – and we’ll need them to survive on the Moon and Mars. In this workshop, participants step into the shoes of plant scientists, psychologists and food chemists to design a plant-inspired solution for a space mission.
Run by the Australian Space Discovery Centre and Plants for Space, the session lets visitors hear from real researchers about how plants grow in space, then think creatively to solve the challenge of limited food, water and room on board.
Saturday 15 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/plants-for-space-mission-to-the-moon-liv/adelaide
Media enquiries: Australian Space Discovery Centre, [email protected] or 08 8432 1400
Climate, AI and inequality: why science needs society – Melbourne, VIC
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.
Balloon veggies persuade kids to eat healthy - Canberra, Condor, Denman Prospect & Holt, ACT
Move over balloon animals, these balloon fruits and veggies are getting kids eating healthy (note: please don’t eat balloons). Former reality tv star, molecular biologist and official balloon scientist Dr Chloe Lim has partnered with the University of Canberra and Nutrition Australia to create Foodie Fun Play! This hands-on adventure lets curious little eaters explore nutrition through storytelling, science and sensory experiences. Perfect for kids aged 3-8.
Chloe founded edutainment venture, Twistyfic, and made the finals of Channel 7's TV show, Blow Up.
Multiple dates and locations .
Media enquiries: Dr Chloe Lim, [email protected] , 0401 118 648
Dr Chloe Lim is available for media interviews. Photos available for media use here . See Chloe’s TEDx Talk .
Real CSI careers – Bentley, WA
The Australia and New Zealand Forensic Science Society's Student Representative Group hosts a careers night with practitioners from digital forensics, forensic archaeology, wildlife forensics, DNA and entomology at Curtin University.
The hybrid-style event runs as speed-conversations and/or a panel discussion depending on numbers; registration required for catering.
Tuesday 18 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/the-evolution-of-forensic-science-careers-speak-with-professionals-in-the-field
Media enquiries: Michael Adamos, ANZFSS Student Representative Group, [email protected] or 0427 667 799.
A future for Groote Eylandt after mining - Alyangula, NT
Groote Eylandt is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Its economy relies heavily on manganese mining… which is ending. How do you create a secure future for an island in the middle of nowhere?
Marine biology, Anindilyakwa culture and aquaculture are coming together through an aquaculture enterprise to create jobs and protect the ocean. It’s a project of the Groote Holdings Aboriginal Corporation and the Anindilyakwa community.
Sea cucumber (“trepang” in Anindilyakwa language) is the core product sold to the lucrative Chinese market where it is a culinary delicacy and is used in Chinese medicine. Dried sea cucumber is lightweight, high-value and non-perishable: important for a product that has to be shipped via a 5-day barge ride to Darwin and then exported.
The enterprise puts an ecosystem to work to raise sea cucumbers in a way that cares for Sea Country. Droppings from seaweed-eating rabbitfish provide food for sea cucumbers. The rabbitfish also remove the seaweed scum that blocks the sunlight sea cucumbers need and provide a locally grown food source for the 2,100 people who live across the archipelago. Blacklip oysters help clean the system to the extent that the effluent water from the facility is cleaner than the water that enters it.
The enterprise now produces oysters, fish for local consumption, and edible, as well as sea cucumber.
Students from local Alyangula, Angurugu and Umbakumba schools will visit the Groote Aqua facility for four days of hands-on marine science, aquaculture, microscopes, water testing and community activities exploring how science and Indigenous knowledge can build a sustainable blue economy on Groote Eylandt.
On the fourth day, the site will open to the wider community, giving everyone the chance to experience marine science in action and see the enterprise that will support lives and livelihoods after mining.
Saturday 29 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/from-knowledge-to-independence-science-for-grootes-blue-future/alyangula
Media enquiries: Valentin Thepot, Groote Aqua Aboriginal Corporation aquaculture manager, [email protected] or 0460 012 284.
Can toddlers think about thinking? – online, via Sydney
Early childhood educators can learn how to deepen children’s critical thinking and metacognition through STEM in a two-hour interactive online workshop run by Little Scientists Australia.
The session moves beyond simply engaging children’s curiosity, giving educators practical strategies and open-ended questions to help infants, toddlers and preschoolers reflect, predict and reason – from documenting learning with photos and floor books to embedding critical thinking into everyday play.
Tickets include access to a recording for anyone who can’t tune in live.
Thursday 20 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/little-scientists-online-educator-workshop-strategies-to-deepen-childrens-critical-thinking-metacognition-through-stem
Media enquiries: Emma or Lara, [email protected] or 02 8080 0065
A Little Scientists trainer/educator is available for media interviews about the workshop, early STEM education and Little Scientists more broadly. Photo and video opportunities can also be arranged.
National Science Week: background
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.
