National Eisteddfod
We had a presence at the country’s largest celebration of Welsh culture and language in Llanrwst, Conwy County, this year.
The National Eisteddfod of Wales 2019, which ran from 3-10 August, attracted 150,000 visitors, including 6,000 competitors throughout the week, along with over 250 trade stands and stalls that make up the vibrant Maes.
More information is available below on the exciting range of activities and talks that we hosted across the Maes in the Cardiff University tent and in the Science and Technology Village.
Llais y Maes
The University’s School of Journalism, Media and Culture’s exciting Llais y Maes digital news service returned for its seventh appearance, in partnership with S4C, ITV Cymru Wales and the National Eisteddfod.
Seven students from Cardiff University worked alongside industry professionals to create unique digital content live from the Maes, giving them the opportunity to learn and practise new skills, establish contacts and gain an insight into the life of a working journalist.
Cardiff University programme of activities
| Time | Session | Description | Led by | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00-17:00 | Fantastic antibodies exhibition | What is an antibody? How do they protect us from bugs and act as modern medicines? How are scientists at Cardiff University trying to make therapeutic antibodies with a sheep farm in West Wales and a virus that attacks bacteria? Come and unlock these puzzles at the Fantastic Antibodies exhibition Cardiff University science tent! | School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences | Science and Technology Village |
| 10:00-17:00 | Journey through the medicines discovery process | Journey through the process of creating new medicines, from where they are found and how they are made, to what they can do. | Medicines Discovery Institute | Science and Technology Village |
| 10:00-17:00 | Meet the students | Come along to the Cardiff University tent to meet some of our students and find out about their studies, and what life is like as a student in Cardiff. | Cardiff University | Cardiff University Tent |
| Time | Session | Description | Led by | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00-17:00 | Fantastic antibodies exhibition | What is an antibody? How do they protect us from bugs and act as modern medicines? How are scientists at Cardiff University trying to make therapeutic antibodies with a sheep farm in West Wales and a virus that attacks bacteria? Come and unlock these puzzles at the Fantastic Antibodies exhibition Cardiff University science tent! | School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences | Science and Technology Village |
| 10:00-17:00 | Human blood typing with amazing antibodies | We all have red blood but it’s not all the same stuff. Come and visit the Blood Transfusion Service to discover how antibodies are used to barcode your blood and how blood donations can save lives. | School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences | Science and Technology Village |
| 10:00-17:00 | Journey through the medicines discovery process | Journey through the process of creating new medicines, from where they are found and how they are made, to what they can do. | Medicines Discovery Institute | Science and Technology Village |
| 10:00-17:00 | Meet the students | Come along to the Cardiff University tent to meet some of our students and find out about their studies, and what life is like as a student in Cardiff. | Cardiff University | Cardiff University Tent |
| 12:00-12:45 | Using chemicals from plants, including some Welsh ones, to treat diseases of the brain | This presentation will be a story of how the natural world develops drugs for us. This will include my experiences of working on and developing drugs for rare brain diseases suffered by children and adults. I will close by mentioning how daffodils have been suggested as a possible treatment for Alzheimer's disease. | Dr. Emyr Lloyd-Evans, School of Biosciences | Cardiff University Tent |
| Time | Session | Description | Led by | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00-15:00 | Your Students’ Union | Let us know what you would like from your Students’ Union on our feedback cards and suggest what song we should add to our Spotify playlist on our larger than life mobile phone cut-out. | Cardiff University Students Union | Cardiff University Tent |
| 10:00-17:00 | Fantastic antibodies exhibition | What is an antibody? How do they protect us from bugs and act as modern medicines? How are scientists at Cardiff University trying to make therapeutic antibodies with a sheep farm in West Wales and a virus that attacks bacteria? Come and unlock these puzzles at the Fantastic Antibodies exhibition Cardiff University science tent! | School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences | Science and Technology Village |
| 10:00-17:00 | Human blood typing with amazing antibodies | We all have red blood but it’s not all the same stuff. Come and visit the Blood Transfusion Service to discover how antibodies are used to barcode your blood donations can save lives. | School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences | Science and Technology Village |
| 10:00-14:30 | Journey through the medicines discovery process | Journey through the process of creating new medicines, from where they are found and how they are made, to what they can do. | Medicines Discovery Institute | Science and Technology Village |
| 11:00-12:00 | Public spending on the justice system in Wales | Police services, law courts and prisons have borne some of the largest spending cuts since the start of austerity measures in 2010. Guto Ifan will present the latest report by the Wales Governance Centre on the scale and composition of public spending on the justice system for Wales, the scale of cuts over recent years, and some of the potential implications of devolving justice to Wales in future. Dr Nerys Llywelyn Jones (Managing Partner of AgriAdvisor, and member of the Commission on Justice in Wales) will also be taking part in a panel discussion. | Guto Ifan, Wales Governance Centre | Cardiff University Tent |
| 15:30- 16:30 | Designing innovative medicines of the future | MDI staff will discuss the origins of our current drugs to treat neuroscience and mental health conditions and the role of our new institute in aiming to improve the lives of patients by designing innovative new medicines. | Professor Simon Ward and Dr Heulyn Jones, Medicines Discovery Institute | Cardiff University Tent |
| Time | Session | Description | Led by | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00-15:00 | Know your blood pressure | In partnership with the Stroke Association, Cardiff University Medical Students will take your blood pressure and under guidance of clinicians, give advice on the results. | School of Medicine and the Stroke Association | Cardiff University Tent |
| 10:00- 17:00 | Fantastic antibodies exhibition | What is an antibody? How do they protect us from bugs and act as modern medicines? How are scientists at Cardiff University trying to make therapeutic antibodies with a sheep farm in West Wales and a virus that attacks bacteria? Come and unlock these puzzles at the Fantastic Antibodies exhibition Cardiff University science tent! | School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences | Science and Technology Village |
| 10:00- 17:00 | Human blood typing with amazing antibodies | We all have red blood but it’s not all the same stuff. Come and visit the Blood Transfusion Service to discover how antibodies are used to barcode your blood donations can save lives. | School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences | Science and Technology Village |
| 10:00- 17:00 | Journey through the medicines discovery process | Journey through the process of creating new medicines, from where they are found and how they are made, to what they can do. | Medicines Discovery Institute | Science and Technology Village |
| 11:00-12:00 | Wales’ fiscal future – closing the fiscal gap? | The Wales Fiscal Analysis team from Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre will present their latest analysis of total government expenditure and revenue in Wales. The presentation and discussion will explore how austerity has affected UK, Welsh and local government spending, the effect of devolving taxes, and the outlook for public spending over coming years. The researchers will discuss what the latest figures and outlook reveal about economic performance in Wales and the UK, and will be asking how the fiscal gap between spending and revenue may be closed. | Guto Ifan and Cian Sion, Wales Governance Centre | Societies Tent 1 |
| 15:15- 16:00 | The CorCenCC project | The National Corpus of Contemporary Welsh (CorCenCC) will be the first large-scale, freely available corpus of Welsh language. This session is an opportunity to learn more about the corpus design and construction, including the principles on which the data was selected. | The National Corpus of Contemporary Welsh (CorCenCC) | Cardiff University Tent |
| 16:00-17:00 | Preventing youth homelessness | Last year the Wales Centre for Public Policy published an influential report on preventing homelessness among young people, based on international evidence about what really works. In this talk, Andrew Connell will talk about the findings of the report, and the major effect it has had on the Welsh Government’s decisions. | Dr Andrew Connell, Wales Centre for Public Policy | Cardiff University Tent |
| Time | Session | Description | Led by | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00-17:00 | Pharmabees | Taking the honeybee as our model, we have developed a series of innovative teaching activities designed to inspire the next generation of Welsh scientists and entrepreneurs. Join us to find out more about this exciting project! | School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences | Science and Technology Village |
| 10:00-15.00 | Know your blood pressure | In partnership with the Stroke Association, Cardiff University Medical Students will take your blood pressure and under guidance of clinicians, give advice on the results. | School of Medicine and the Stroke Association | Cardiff University Tent |
| 15:15-16:00 | The CorCenCC project | The project will be presenting its outputs and progress | CorCenCC (National Corpus of Contemporary Welsh) | Cardiff University Tent |
| 16:15-17:00 | Brief history and rules of cynghanedd poetry | A whistle-stop tour of cynghanedd with the Prifardd Osian Rhys Jones, debunking some myths and learning some rules along the way. | Y Prifardd Osian Rhys Jones | Cardiff University Tent |
| Time | Session | Description | Led by | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00-17:00 | Pharmabees | Taking the honeybee as our model, we have developed a series of innovative teaching activities designed to inspire the next generation of Welsh scientists and entrepreneurs. Join us to find out more about this exciting project! | School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences | Science and Technology Village |
| 10:00-17:00 | Studying at Cardiff University | Find out more about living and studying at Cardiff University. | Undergraduate Recruitment Team | Cardiff University Tent |
| 10:30-11:30 | Wales, England and Llanrwst: Contemporary identities through the humanist looking glass | Beginning with William Salesbury's Bible, Dr Huw Williams, philosopher and Dean of the Welsh Language at Cardiff University, will examine an exceptionally interesting period with respect to both the formation of the Welsh people and the English state. In light of this history, significant and stimulating questions emerge with respect to contemporary challenges. | Dr Huw Williams, Coleg Cymraeg / School of English, Communication and Philosophy | Cardiff University Tent |
| 14:00-15:00 | The long journey to the centre of the cell: from tadpole tails to the heart of cancer | Professor Arwyn Jones will discuss how Conwy Valley tadpoles inspired his passion for biology when he was growing up in Llanrwst. He will then share his international journey of research that now allows him to look inside cancer cells for new therapeutic opportunities. | Professor Arwyn Jones, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences | Societies Tent 2 |
| 14:00-14:45 | Walls, graffiti and castles: heritage and the Welsh language | Although our heritage can be seen on stones and walls, language is needed to create and express it. From ‘Cofiwch Dryweryn’ (Remember Tryweryn) to Cadfan Stone and Caernarfon Castle, this presentation will explore the relationship between the Welsh language and the heritage industry and how aspects of remembering, forgetting and community are entwined. Simultaneous translation into English will be available. | Dr Dylan Foster Evans, Head of School of Welsh | Cardiff University Tent |
| 15:30-17:00 | A place on all platforms: a digital future for the Welsh language | The audiences and citizens of the future are moving online. Giving the Welsh language a voice in this multi-platform world is one of the big challenges of the digital revolution. Sion Jenkins of 'Ein Byd' (ITV Wales / S4C) leads a discussion with a panel of experts. Also broadcast on Facebook Live. Simultaneous translation into English will be available. | ITV Wales/S4C | Cardiff University Tent |
| Time | Session | Description | Led by | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00-17:00 | Polymers for human healing and wound painting | Come and discover how polymers have amazing properties that can be used to make nappies, rugby balls and materials for healing humans. Learn about the different types of cells found in your body and how your body reacts when cut. | Cardiff Institute for Tissue Engineering and Repair (CITER) | Science and Technology Village |
| 10:30-11:30 | The future of medical education in Wales | Join us for a panel event as we discuss the innovations bringing more medical students to north and west Wales. Medical educators from Cardiff, Bangor and Swansea Universities will discuss the upcoming developments in how we train doctors for Wales, and what the future might bring. Simultaneous translation into English will be available. | School of Medicine | Cardiff University Tent |
| 11:30-12:30 | Have your say: future of medical education in Wales | Following the panel event, join us for an informal discussion to have your say about what makes a good medical student, a good doctor. Come and find out how you can get involved in training the next generation of medical professionals. | School of Medicine | Cardiff University Tent |
| 12:45-13:30 | The future of social care in Wales | The future of social care is an important issue for Welsh society. There is public concern about funding and sustainability of adult social care, especially with an ageing population. Rates of children in care have been rising every year for the last couple of decades. This talk will introduce the topic and some of the key decisions that will need to be made in the coming years. | Professor Jonathan Scourfield, School of Social Sciences | Cardiff University Tent |
| 14:00-15:00 | Is there a future for print journalism in Wales? | Join a panel of experts to discuss the future of print Journalism in Wales. Will there be a newspaper in Wales within a decade or will print news be accessed exclusively on-line? What will this mean for Welsh Communities and local democracy? In the brave new world of on-line journalism can the small survive? Simultaneous translation into English will be available. | School of Journalism, Media and Culture | Cardiff University Tent |
| 15:00-16:00 | Cardiff University Alumni drinks reception | An opportunity for past and present students to meet and exchange stories of their time at Cardiff University. | Development and Alumni Relations | Cardiff University Tent |
| Time | Session | Description | Led by | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00-16:00 | Meet the students | Come along to the Cardiff University tent to meet some of our students and find out about their studies, and what life is like as a student in Cardiff. | Cardiff University | Cardiff University Tent |
| 10:00-16:00 | Polymers for human healing and wound painting | Come and discover how polymers have amazing properties that can be used to make nappies, rugby balls and materials for healing humans. Learn about the different types of cells found in your body and how your body reacts when cut. | Cardiff Institute for Tissue Engineering and Repair (CITER) | Science and Technology Village |