Where curiosity begins — and life journeys start to take shape.
The Shape of Water
A brand new show for Science Week 2026, for families and curious minds of all ages.
I've stood on the ice in Antarctica and watched glaciers fall into the sea in the Arctic. The Shape of Water is the story of those journeys, and of the one thing that connects them, and all of us: water.
Meet a polar bear and a penguin, find out what a polar explorer really wears, and discover how life survives at the ends of the Earth.
Funded by Research Ireland through Science Week Ireland. Created in partnership with Dublin Zoo and dramaturg Sarah Baxter, using original footage from the 2023 Antarctic and 2025 Arctic expeditions, with artwork by Linda Fährlin and Arctic sounds by Sarah Bassingthwaite.
Where its on & Booking Links
Free family activity pack
Every child at the show gets our 36-page Art Science Activity Pack. Can't make it? Sign up to the Town Scientist newsletter and we'll email you the free pack as soon as Science Week kicks off.
Send me the activity pack"I always thought science was above me... that was diluted through the workshops. It made it feel normal."
— Town Scientist participant, 2025
Missed our Eclipse Watch?
Download the activity pack and catch up on what happened →
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Subscribe free →Space Week 2026
We had our Family Space Day — Saturday 3 October, Dundalk
Thank you to everyone who came along and made it such a brilliant day. Rockets were launched, planets were explored, and curious minds were everywhere.
Want to stay in the loop for our next event? Join the Town Scientist community — and grab our free Space Week activity pack below.
A scientist in every community.
Town Scientist embeds a working scientist inside communities — running activities, building trust, and helping families see science as part of everyday life. Not just for kids. Not just for schools.
2025 pilot · independently evaluated
6,800+
engagement instances across the year
91%
felt STEM was more for people like them
74%
of participants from under-represented communities
80%
more comfortable sharing science at home as a family
Independent evaluation conducted by The Outcome, 2025.
See it in action
From the community
Activities
Science for families, not just classrooms.
Everything at Town Scientist is free and designed so parents and children learn together. Not a one-off event. A community.
Six weeks building and launching real rockets — families do it together.
Annual public events with talks, workshops and hands-on activities.
W5 Belfast, Dublin Zoo, planetariums — science out in the world.
Engineering and coding competitions for young people in the community.
Community in action
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Newsletter
Activities, updates and stories from the community — read on Substack.
Want a scientist in your town?
Science changes how families see the world — and their place in it. Funding, partnership and community interest enquiries welcome. Town Scientist is built to scale — one community at a time.
Get in touch
Want a scientist in your town?
Science changes how families see the world — and their place in it. Funding, partnership and community interest enquiries welcome. Town Scientist is built to scale — one community at a time.
Get in touch