Design Informatics at the 2026 Edinburgh Science Festival
We are delighted to announce that for the 2026 Edinburgh Science Festival the Institute for Design Informatics will present a series of exhibitions and events at Inspace, the Edinburgh Futures Institute, the Bayes Centre and Dynamic Earth.
The theme of this years festival will be Going Global highlighting research and innovation stretching across the globe to create a better future, whilst also celebrating Scotland’s own contributions to scientific advancement. Within this theme Design Informatics MSc/MA students will be presenting their work at the Designing Global Data Interactions exhibition to kick of the this years Inspace Edinburgh Science Festival programme. This will be followed by an installation of work from glass artist Gregory Alliss, the exhibition will also host the opportunity to experience hands-on creative playful representation of complex Magnetic Resonance Imaging software technologies, through remote live imaging at the MR lab in Germany.
During the two-week festival Design Informatics students and researchers will also be popping up around the City of Edinburgh inviting festival audiences to explore, interact and play. AI for All: Designing Responsibly a one day pop up at the Edinburgh Futures Institue asks how we can ensure Natural Language Processing (NLP), a machine learning technology that enables computers to understand, manipulate, and interpret human language, is a system that is fair, accountable and transparent? And BRAID will be asking you to consider: Can you seek out what’s true in today’s tsunami of AI slop?
Going Global
Science is more than knowledge – it’s a shared pursuit that transcends borders, uniting people, ideas, and discoveries in a global endeavour to create a future that’s fairer, healthier and sustainable for all.
Exploring the theme Going Global, Edinburgh Science Festival 2026 will showcase the research and innovation created through international partnerships that address shared challenges, directly aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Festival will highlight Scotland’s contribution to scientific advances through research, innovation and its extraordinary people. – Edinburgh Science
Designing Global Data Interactions
Inspace, University of Edinburgh
Can deepfakes fool you?
Stratosphere, Dynamic Earth
Designing Responsible NLP CDT student Jinzoumu Zhong will host an event as part of the University of Edinburgh: 7 Days, 100 Scientists event at Dynamic Earth, where you can meet the scientists working to better understand our world and how to tackle the greatest challenges of our time. From the microscopic to the vastness of the Universe, medicine to robotics and supercomputing, there is something for everyone.
Can deepfakes fool you? will invite you to “detect the deepfake” from a range of audio and audio-visual samples and consider the ethical risks and societal harms of AI.
AI for All: Designing Responsibly 2026
Canopy, Edinburgh Futures Institute
Natural Language Processing (NLP) is an area of AI that underpins technologies we use every day, including personalisation systems, voice assistants, translation tools, and generative AI, such as ChatGPT. These technologies have huge potential – but how do we ensure they are fair, accountable, and transparent?
Join us for our annual drop-in festival of exhibits, hands-on activities and opportunities to meet the next generation of researchers sharing their work and ideas of how we design and build a more responsible future.
Truth, Trust and Trickery in the AI Age
Bayes Centre, Bayes Theorem, University of Edinburgh
Can you seek out what’s true in today’s tsunami of AI slop?
Between Glass and Magnetic Fields
Inspace, Crichton St, University of Edinburgh
Between Glass and Magnetic Fields is an interactive talk, accompanying an art installation by Gregory Alliss, emerging from his time as Creator in Residence for STEAM Imaging VI: Resonant Connections through Design and Data, at the Fraunhofer MEVIS Institute for Digital Medicine. This project combines design thinking with medical data science through glass art and immersive installations.
