One of the UK’s leading University psychology departments will be running its first ever Pint of Science Festival in Egham, Surrey, over three nights where everyone is welcome to come along and learn all about the beautiful mind.

The Royal Holloway, University of London, ticketed event will be held at The Red Lion pub, Egham, from the 22 to 24 May, where people can listen to talks on everything from what makes swear words sound satisfying to how virtual reality can change our minds.

There will be more than 10 scientists from Royal Holloway taking part across the three nights and people interested in going along can buy their tickets for £5 per person.

The Pint of Science is the world's largest festival of public science and is the first time the event comes to Surrey, with Egham joining nearly 500 towns and cities across the world taking part.     

The festival simultaneously brings thousands of scientists and their research out of the lab and into pubs, cafes and community halls. The three-day festival has grown astronomically since its inception and 2023, it will see its tenth anniversary with events in more than 25 countries and hundreds of cities around the world.

Each night will provide a unique line up of talks, demonstrations and live experiments held in a relaxed and informal environment.

There will be a variety of exciting talks during the three evenings from academics from the Department of Psychology at Royal Holloway, including:

'The sound of swearing'

Dr Shiri Lev Ari and Professor Ryan McKay will unpick why swear words sound the way they do.

'What makes us tick?'

Irena Arslanova, Post-Doctoral Researcher, will explore how our sense of time is linked to the inner rhythms of our bodies.

'The worm at the core: on the role of death in life'

Dr Sam Fairlamb will put fear of death to the test and discuss our quest for immortality.

Dr Carl Hodgetts, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Royal Holloway, said: “We have so many incredible scientists at Royal Holloway that this event is the best way to share our research with the local community in and around Egham.”

Rosie Drysdale from the Department of Psychology at Royal Holloway, added: “We’re really excited about making science accessible to the local community as it’s so important to all our lives, especially the opportunity to inspire the next generation of women in STEM.”

Alongside the main talks, this year audiences go head-to-head in the largest ever multi-city pub quiz, in association with interactive quiz company, Kwizzbit. Teams in each venue compete against others across the city and the rest of the UK as they tackle a series of science-themed questions to prove which city has the strongest trivia knowledge.

For more information, visit Pint of Science or email Natalie Starkey at natalie.starkey@rhul.ac.uk