PPLS at the Edinburgh Science Festival 2023
The festival, entering its 36th year, hosted events from colleagues across the School.

This year’s theme was 'Let's Experiment', celebrating a return to hands-on science, and embracing the concepts of experimentation, innovation, creativity, curiosity and invention.
The School is proud to have had staff representing all our subject areas contributing to the festival and engaging the public with their ground-breaking research.
Dr Sarah Stanton on The Science Behind Happy Couples
Senior Psychology lecturer Dr Sarah Stanton hosted a fun and interactive session in a choose-your-own-adventure style show where audience members guided an intimate relationship by voting as a group.
Don’t Stress About It with Dr Aja Murray
At the National Museum of Scotland, Reader in Psychology Dr Aja Murray’s hands-on workshop examined how scientists look at stress levels using hair and how we can learn to avoid too much stress.
Dr James Hutton on the Emotion and the Climate Emergency
Ethics researcher, emotion theorist and climate activist Dr James Hutton (Early Career Fellow, Philosophy) took an audience through an exploration of the impacts of climate change on marine environment. The aim was to discover whether emotions stop us from thinking rationally about climate action, or if there times when emotion is just what we need to make us strive for a better world?
Discover Neuroscience-Guided Walking Tours with Dr Thomas Bak and Lothian Birth Cohorts
The festival rounded off with Dr Thomas Bak, Human Cognitive Neuroscience Researcher and qualified tour guide, giving his walking tour to discover local neuroscience, including LBC research on cognitive and brain ageing.