Archive of Previous programmes
2026 Summer Gathering
4 – 7 June
2026 Summer Gathering
Mind & Matter
About the programme
The 14th annual Summer Gathering took place on 4-7 July in Waterford and Lismore. The theme of Mind & Matter invited speakers to talk about topics around philosophy, art, ageing, and AI. Attendees explore through discussions and a tour of the Waterford Gallery of Art.
The Speakers
Recorded presentations
All Recordings Coming Soon
2026 Winter Gathering
24 January
2026 Winter Gathering
Mind & Matter
About the programme
The 14th annual Winter Gathering took place on Saturday 24th January in RDS Dublin. The theme of Mind & Matter invited speakers to talk about topics around neuroscience, philosophy, power to choose, and included a magic show.
The Speakers
Recorded presentations
2025 Summer Gathering
June
2025 Summer Gathering
The Brain: Past, Present & Future
The Speakers
Recorded presentations
No Recordings Available
2025 Winter Gathering
25 January
2025 Winter Gathering
The Brain: Past, Present & Future
About the programme
The 14th annual Winter Gathering took place on Saturday 25th January in RDS Dublin. The theme of The Brain: Past, Present and Future invited speakers to talk about topics around neuroscience, and remembering Prof Dervilla Donnelly, an Irish chemist.
The Speakers
Recorded presentations
2024 Summer Gathering
9 – 12 May
2024 Summer Gathering
Science & Art
About the programme
The Summer Gathering took place in Waterford and Lismore from 9-12 May. Addressing the theme Science and Art, our presenters and guests enjoyed three days of conferencing, culture, conversation and conviviality.
Many people may see the arts and sciences as two separate worlds, mutually exclusive, or even opposed. Sixty-five years ago, C.P. Snow claimed that a division existed between science and the arts that was a dangerous threat to Western society. Snow argued that it would be mutually beneficial to both camps to build bridges between the disciplines.
The Speakers
Recorded presentations
No Recordings Available
2024 Winter Gathering
20 January
2024 Winter Gathering
Science & Art
About the programme
The Robert Boyle Winter Gathering took place at the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) on 20 January 2024 from 10 AM to 4 PM. The topic was Science & Art.
The speakers for the Winter Gathering were Prof Michael John Gorman, Dr Matthew Morgan, Nollaig Healy, Brian Trench, Prof William Gallagher, Deirdre O’Raw, Vincent Devine.
The Speakers
Recorded presentations
No Recordings Available
2023 Summer Gathering
22 – 25 June
2023 Summer Gathering
Science Writing | Writing Science
About the programme
The 11th Robert Boyle Summer Gathering took place from 22 – 25 June in Waterford City Hall and at the Heritage Centre in the beautiful village of Lismore. Addressing the theme Science Writing | Writing Science, our presenters and guests enjoyed three days of conferencing, culture, conversation and conviviality.
The Speakers
Recorded presentations
No Recordings Available
2023 Winter Gathering
18 February
2023 Winter Gathering
Science, Ireland & Colonialism
About the programme
Following on from the theme of our 10th annual Robert Boyle Summer Gathering, this year’s Winter Gathering addressed the topic of Science, Ireland & Colonialism.
Boyle’s father Richard was the most successful colonial adventurer of the 17th Century. Income from lands in Ireland help fund Boyle’s scientific programme. Boyle also had interests in certain colonial enterprises. In the succeeding centuries, there has been an interrelationship between science and colonialism. Meanwhile, Ireland both suffered under colonialism and participated in, and benefitted from colonialism. It is important and timely that we examine these issues with respect to Ireland.
The Speakers
Recorded presentations
2022 Summer Gathering
9 – 10 September
2022 Summer Gathering
Science & Colonialism
About the programme
The Robert Boyle Summer Gathering 2022 was held on 9-10 September.
Boyle’s father Richard was the most successful colonial adventurer in 16th /17th Century Ireland. Income from lands in Ireland help fund Boyle’s scientific programme. Boyle also had interests in certain colonial enterprises. In the succeeding centuries there has been an interrelationship between science and colonialism. It is timely to examine these issues and we will consider the Boyle family, Boyle’s own interests, the relationship between science and colonialism and the part Irish people played in colonial ventures. As is our custom, in light of the past, we look at current and future issues.
The Speakers
Recorded presentations
No Recordings Available
2021 Summer Gathering
26 June
2021 Summer Gathering
Women in STEM
About the programme
The Robert Boyle Summer Gathering took place online due to COVID restrictions on 26 June 2021. This year’s Summer School addressed the topic of Women in STEM.
In science, one is rarely alone, as it often involves teamwork and collaboration. Ideas and concepts are discussed with peers, as was the case for Robert Boyle and his sister in the 17th century. While it was socially acceptable for his sister to do charity work, it was not acceptable for her to publish her work due to the need to preserve her reputation. Unfortunately, there is no evidence of her work except in her letters. This year’s summer school focused on women in science, technology, engineering and maths, who are often overlooked.
Learn more about the woman beside the father of chemistry, Lady Ranelagh, with 2 podcasts here.
The Speakers
Recorded presentations
2021 Winter Gathering
Online
2021 Winter Gathering
Science & Pandemics
About the programme
Due to lockdown restrictions, we were unable to hold our events as normal. We ran a series of online lecture through the winter and spring of 2021. You can watch back here.
Dealing with pandemics is nothing new for scientists. Throughout history new contagious diseases have emerged, seemingly out of nowhere. Physicians, researchers, and public officials then scramble towards mitigating the spread and discovering a cure while death tolls and unemployment rise. Robert Boyle and his sister, the scientific collaborator Lady Ranelagh, lived through the infamous Great Plague of London over 1665-66. What did they understand about the disease? How did they deal with it? Are there any lessons from 350 years ago that could apply to COVID-19 today? Watch historian Dr Michelle DiMeo illuminates how Robert Boyle and Lady Ranelagh’s experiences with a plague year share some striking similarities to what we face today.
In 2020, the world experienced a pandemic that caused a global economic freeze for several months. What distinguishes COVID from the common cold? How does it replicate? How does our immune system respond? What medical tools do we have to combat COVID19? What will vaccination do? Watch Professor Luke O’Neill, a world expert on innate immunity and inflammation, explain the science behind COVID19.
Every aspect of COVID19 has been contested, usually not by scientists. Professor Anthony Staines focuses on one topic: the use of masks to reduce the spread of the virus. Watch Professor Anthony Staines unveil the facts and the fakes.
The Speakers
Recorded presentations
2020 Winter Gathering
25 January
2020 Winter Gathering
Climate Change the Irish Story
About the programme
The 2nd Robert Boyle Winter Gathering took place in partnership with the RDS Dublin on Saturday 25th January 2020 (Robert Boyle’s 393rd Birthday!) and explored “Climate Change the Irish Story” with presentations about the past, present and future engagement with Climate Change. Over 80 people attended on the day.
The audience was introduced to Robert Boyle by Eoin Gill, learning about his approach to experimental science and witness some of Boyle’s pioneering experiments on the air, culminating in Boyle’s Law which is fundamental to weather and climate modelling. This presentation was dedicated to Dr Roy Johnson who passed away in December 2019.
This year, 2020, marks the bi-centennial of John Tyndall who was born in Leighlinbridge Co. Carlow. Tyndall was a major figure of Victorian science and he demonstrated that different gases absorbed heat at different levels in other words the mechanism causing climate change. Dr Norman McMillan a leading champion of John Tyndall in Ireland talk about Tyndall’s life and pioneering work on the “Greenhouse Effect” and also gave a detailed account of efforts to preserve Tyndall’s legacy over several decades. Norman also paid tribute to the work of Dr Con O’Rourke in highlighting Ireland’s science heritage.
Professor J Owen Lewis former dean of the faculty of Engineering and Architecture, UCD and CEO of Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland has been at the forefront of sustainable energy research in Ireland since the 1980s. He looked back at several decades of work on low energy buildings and the potential to make serious savings in carbon emissions.
Dr David Robert Grimes author of the “Irrational Ape” is a DCU based physicist working in oncology. He has written in the Irish Times, the Guardian and other media combating pseudoscience. His recent book, “The Irrational Ape: Why Flawed Logic Puts us all at Risk and How Critical Thinking Can Save the World” has been described by Robin Ince as “A beautifully reasoned book about our own unreasonableness”. David explored the climate change denial in the context of wider rejection of science and evidence-based knowledge.
The Speakers
Recorded presentations
No Recordings Available
2019 Summer Gathering
20 – 23 June
2019 Summer Gathering
Superhuman
About the programme
The 8th Robert Boyle Summer Gathering took place from 20 – 23 June 2019 at Waterford City and Lismore and addressed the potentials and perils of SUPERHUMAN.
The inspiration for the 2019 summer Gathering was Boyle’s wonderful, prophetic (and now quirky) document from the 1660’s where he lists 24 things that he thought the new science might deliver. Most of them have come to pass in the intervening 350 years. Many of them refer to human health and performance. Top of the list was the “prolongation of life”, and he would surely be amazed at the advancements made.
We thought that we would start in the 17th Century and consider what Boyle and his contemporaries were thinking about and then look to the present and the future to see how we science and technology are poised to create Superhumans. How much further can we advance life expectancy and what can we do to ensure that our ageing population is healthy and fit? How can technologies help people suffering illness or infirmity to lead more active and engaged lives?
These are all worthy sounding developments, but what about the aim of enhancement from human to superhuman? This is no longer science fiction and the 8th RBSS will explore the possibilities and perils of SUPERHUMAN.
The Speakers
Recorded presentations
No Recordings Available
2015 Summer Gathering
25 – 28 June
2015 Summer Gathering
Scientific Communication: Past, Present & Future
About the programme
At the 350th anniversary of the founding of the oldest scientific journal, given Boyle’s important role in the early journal and considering the problems now emerging in the system, it is fitting that the 2015 Robert Boyle Summer School would address the subject of scientific communication past, present and future.
The Speakers
Recorded presentations
No Recordings Available
2014 Summer Gathering
25 – 28 June
2014 Summer Gathering
Scientific Communication: Past, Present & Future
About the programme
At the 350th anniversary of the founding of the oldest scientific journal, given Boyle’s important role in the early journal and considering the problems now emerging in the system, it is fitting that the 2015 Robert Boyle Summer School would address the subject of scientific communication past, present and future.
The Speakers
Recorded presentations
No Recordings Available
2012, 2013, 2018
15 – 18 July
2012 Summer Gathering
First Summer School
About the programme
2012 was the first Robert Boyle Summer School held in Lismore on 15 – 18 July. It has become an annual celebration of the place of science in our lives, bringing in leading speakers and gathering the community for thought and discussion.
The Speakers
No Speakers Available
Recorded presentations
No Recordings Available