KAUST time-themed festival of science

Speakers at the festival include: Dr. Michael Young, Lando Norris, Jonathan Neale, Dava Sobel, Dr. Priyamvada Natarajan, Dr. John Ellis, Dr. Paolo Sassone-Corsi, Dr. Juan Carlos Belmonte, Dr. Giulio Tononi, Dr. Karen Ashe, Dr. David Rooney, and Noëmi Daucé.

What is the science behind our body’s biological clock? What role does it play in food, sleep, stress, how we age and even how we rejuvenate? Interested individuals can find out the answers to these questions and more at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology’s (KAUST) annual festival of science, the Winter Enrichment Program (WEP), running from Jan. 13-24.
Online audiences in the Kingdom and internationally have the opportunity to explore the topic of time by tuning into all of the keynote lectures, in addition to in-depth live interviews on Facebook and YouTube.
“Time is perhaps the most universal and unifying aspect of life. The inspiration for this year’s festival came from the idea of proposing reflection on how different aspects of what we measure or perceive as time impacts people and how science and culture can help to improve quality of life,” said Chair of the Winter Enrichment Program Dr. Valerio Orlando, professor of bioscience at KAUST.
“Visitors can also explore what we call consciousness, the basis of intelligence and representation of reality, the fundamental questions regarding the universe and those global values that we learn from history that make humanity one thing.”
The festival will play host to 12 keynote lectures by international experts on sleep, consciousness, nutrition, the universe, dreams, society and history, including a Nobel laureate, a McLaren Formula 1 racing driver as well as writers, artists, film makers, curators and creators. Keynote lectures are complemented by workshops, exhibitions, virtual reality and immersive displays.
Speakers at the KAUST festival of science include: Dr. Michael Young, Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine; Lando Norris, Formula 1 Driver, McLaren; Jonathan Neale, chief operating officer, McLaren; Dava Sobel, best-selling author; Dr. Priyamvada Natarajan, professor in the departments of astronomy and physics at Yale University; Dr. John Ellis, professor of theoretical physics, King’s College London; Dr. Paolo Sassone-Corsi, director of the Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism, University of California; Dr. Juan Carlos Belmonte, director of the Development and Stem Cells Biology Laboratories, Salk Institute; Dr. Giulio Tononi, professor and director of the Wisconsin Institute for Sleep and Consciousness; Dr. Karen Ashe, director of the N. Bud Grossman Center for Memory Research; Dr. David Rooney, former curator of timekeeping at the Royal Observatory Greenwich; and Noëmi Daucé, chief curator at Louvre Abu Dhabi in-charge of archaeology.
“This exciting festival of expansive thinking, coordinated, programmed and produced by our university, will bring distinguished keynote speakers, thought leaders, guests, conversations, ideas, inspiration and new knowledge to our students, our faculty and many others throughout Saudi Arabia and internationally,” said Dr. Tony Chan, president of KAUST.