And just like that, another Pint of Science festival has come and gone, leaving Umeå a little bit wiser, slightly tipsier, and infinitely more entertained. For three glorious days, we turned our favorite local haunts Pub Rött and Lion Bar into bastions of knowledge, fun games, and delightful chaos.
None of this would have been possible without our City Coordinator, Preeti Moar, who corralled an absolute powerhouse of project managers: Taylor Devlin, Arttu Ahonen, Praveen Mathews Varghese, Nazar Beirag, and Barbara Walenkiewicz. If you see any of them around Umeå, buy them a pint. They’ve earned it!
As always, our mission at Pint of Science is to break down the ivory tower and deliver science jargon-free. Did we succeed? Well, when 90% of your audience turns out to be fellow researchers, maintaining a “no jargon” policy is a bit like trying to keep seagulls away from fries at the town square. But gosh, did our speakers try!
Day 1: Tiny Worlds, Big Impact 📍 Pub Rött – 18th May
A Group Leader at MIMS and DDLS Fellow in Epidemiology and Biology of Infection at Umeå University, who leads a research team dedicated to decoding how the human gut microbiota shapes our health and fights disease.
We kicked off Day 1 with an appetite for science. Chinmay took the stage to talk about broccoli, gut bacteria, and diabetes effectively making everyone in the room question their dinner choices.
Nikolas is a Staff Scientist and expert microbiologist studying bacterial eco-evolutionary dynamics, focusing on how novel environmental stressors like nanoplastics induce biological phenomena and plastic-borne pathogens.
Then came Nikolas, who brought the massive problem of microplastics down to a microscopic level. But while Nikolas held the mic, we have to give a massive round of applause to Maria, who deserved an Olympic medal for running around the pub showcasing actual vials of microplastics to the crowd.
Who knew a local pub could double as an academic lecture hall? Just add microplastics and a 90% researcher audience!
An Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and biomedical researcher who uses cutting-edge molecular biology and tissue engineering to pioneer “organ-on-a-chip” models and advance cancer research.
We wrapped up the science portion with Mohamed Ali, who blew our minds with the futuristic world of “organ-on-a-chip” technology.
Of course, we couldn’t end the night without a science trivia quiz. Praveen designed actual OCR (Optical Character Recognition) answering sheets for it. As an Indian, I can safely say it brought back some deep-seated exam trauma. Thanks for the flashbacks, Praveen!
Day 2: Invisible Forces 📍 Lion Bar – 19th May
Day 2 was all about the things we can’t see but definitely feel……be it financial, photonic, or magnetic.
We opened with a topic everyone wants to understand but nobody actually does: taxes. Gauthier Lanot bravely took us through the blurred lines of fiscal rules, making economics sound less like a chore and more like a puzzle.
A Professor of Economics at Umeå University whose global research career spans the UK, Canada, and Denmark, studying how taxes have shaped human behavior from ancient Assyria right down to modern Sweden.
A topic everyone wants to understand, but lines are always blurred.
Next up, Jeenu brought the heat, sharing her combustion experiments, explaining the chromium found in ashes, and somehow weaving her own bracelets into the mix.
Jeenu Jegy (PhD Student) & Nils Skoglund (Associate Professor): This dynamic research duo dives into the chemical structures of industrial-scale combustion ashes, utilizing both standard lab methods and advanced synchrotron-based X-ray techniques to unlock new ways we can recycle nutrients from waste materials.
Then came a masterclass in science storytelling. To explain how magnetic fields and sunrays interact, our speaker used her own hair, hairspray, and a brilliant analogy: if someone throws something at your head, it’s going to hit you—but stiffen that hair up with enough hairspray, and you’ve got a shield! Dany backed this up with stunning clips of how magnetic fields protect planets and create gorgeous auroral activities.
Dany Waller: A PhD student, Planetary scientist and engineer who studies planetary magnetic fields to understand space weather and how planets protect themselves from cosmic forces.
Science storytelling at its finest: Hairspray as a planetary shield.
The night wrapped up with a trivia quiz crafted by Arttu. Let’s just say… it was hard. If you lost points, you know exactly whose name to shake your fist at. (Just kidding, Arttu, You did great!).
Day 3: Of Trees and PhDs (Rhyme Intended!) 📍 Lion Bar – 20th May
While the organizers loved how well the title rhymed, the theme was actually chosen because our first two speakers were plant scientists ready to talk all things green—though in true Pint of Science fashion, our final speaker ended up talking about plants anyway! The botanical takeover was absolute.
The finale was opened by… Me! My goal was simple: simplify plant science for the general public. My reality? Presenting a room absolutely packed to the brim with fellow plant scientists. Talk about preaching to the choir! I did my best to guide everyone through plant metabolites and our serendipitous discovery of lipids in wood.
As a postdoc at UPSC and SLU, I spent my days (& nights) acting as a chemical detective, investigating the complex world of plant metabolites and our serendipitous, accidental discovery of wood lipids.
Then came the absolute highlight of the festival. Laura completely broke the scientific mold by deciding to sing her research. She treated us to a brilliant parody of Bill Withers’ Ain’t No Sunshine, re-titled “Ain’t No Flowers in My Trees.”
Laura García Romañach, A PhD student at UPSC and SLU navigating the long, experimental journey of tree genetics to figure out what triggers early flowering in forestry.
It was a hilarious, musical look into “Tree Tinder” (or Treender, if you will) and her work on early flowering. Step aside, Eurovision!
Dinesh Dhurvas Chandrasekaran, A Postdoctoral fellow at Umeå university presented his doctoral journey by uncovering a crucial plant hormone signaling protein after years of persistence.
Dinesh brought the presentations to a fantastic close by laying bare the highs, lows, and ultimate breakthroughs of his PhD journey and keeping the day’s theme perfectly intact by uncovering a crucial plant hormone signaling protein!, followed by one last ultimate trivia showdown.
Myth Busters & Big Thanks!
Like every year, we kept the audience on their toes with our beloved Myth Bursters segments. Equipped with YES/NO placards, the crowd got to vote on scientific truths and fallacies, proving that sometimes, even a room full of scientists can be fooled!
A massive, echoing thanks to Pub Rött and Lion Bar for hosting our crazy crew, to all our brilliant speakers who dared to make science fun, and to everyone who came out to drink, think, and laugh with us.
Until next year, Umeå…….keep your science simple, your beer cold, and your hair sprayed stiff against cosmic forces!
Highlights Gallery
Lastly, if you appear in these photos and aren’t a fan of the angle, I accept full responsibility as the resident amateur photographer who was heavily distracted by the science!
