What's On at ATOM 2026
ATOM Science Market Day
Saturday March 14th 9.30am - 3pm
Abingdon Market Place
Free event - booking not required
Science comes to the Market Place in Abingdon, with science exhibitors and communicators all assembled to show you why they love their scientific work! When you have looked around the Market Place don't forget that there are activities, talks and shows going on in the Museum and in the "Community Shop" at 25 Bury Street, both a few steps away.
More details about this event including how to take part if you are a science organisation here
Science Market Day .....in the Museum
Saturday 14th March
Abingdon Museum
Free event - booking not required.
Details to be confirmed
Science Market Day .....in Unit 25 Community Space
Saturday 14th March
Unit 25, Bury Street, (opposite Willows Shake Shop)
ATOM presents....at the Amey Theatre
Sunday 15th March
7.30pm | Doors open at 7pm
The Amey Theatre, Abingdon School
Professor Brian Cox CBE:
Our Place in the Universe
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ATOM Presents....at the History of Science Museum
Monday 16th March
Choose from tours starting at 11am or at 2pm
History of Science Museum, Oxford
Dr Silke Ackermann & Dr JC Niala
How does science actually happen? (Spoiler - it's not just lone geniuses and clean laboratory benches)
Join us at the History of Science Museum for a relaxed, story-rich tour of the objects that show the real human side of science. The traders who carried ideas across continents, the artists who helped shape scientific imagination, and the makers whose instruments changed how we see the universe. You’ll get up close with everything from beautifully crafted astrolabes to Einstein’s chalk-scribbles. Come rethink what counts as 'science' and discover just how creative, collaborative and surprising knowledge-making has always been.
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This is private tour exclusive to ATOM, taking place while the museum is closed to the general public. Places will be limited so that groups can tour with only 15 to a group.
Talk hosted by The ATOM Society
Tuesday 17th March
7.30pm | Doors open at 7pm
Abingdon United Football Club, Northcourt Road, OX14 1PL
Professor Tim Coulson:
Predators: How Nature’s Killers Have Shaped Life on Earth
Predators past made us human. As predators we change earth. Future predators could save humanity. This is the argument Tim Coulson will make as he takes us on a gripping journey through half a billion years of life-and-death struggles between hunter and hunted. From ancient shark leviathans to lions on the African plains, from the rise of Homo erectus to our own role as the planet’s most dangerous killer, this talk explains how predation shaped the very fabric of life and could yet save humanity’s future.
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This talk is free to all ATOM Society members. Non-members are welcome (£3 cash on the door.)
ATOM presents......at Culham Campus
Wednesday 18th March
Starts at 6pm
Culham Campus
Open Evening Talk and Tour at UKAEA
Harnessing the Power of Stars on Earth
Bring your questions and curiosity as you discover just how on Earth we are creating star-power and see two of the leading facilities responsible for this ground-breaking research, pushing us closer
to delivering fusion energy for all!
Our Open Evenings offer you a unique opportunity to see in-person some of the amazing work we are doing to develop sustainable fusion energy. You will receive an introductory talk covering the basics
of fusion energy, followed by tours of the world record breaking Joint European Torus (JET) and the Materials Research Facility (MRF). These tours will be led by engineers, scientists, and
technicians, who either worked on or are helping to decommission JET or working in MRF - so you are guaranteed a genuine insight into what it's like to work in fusion and have the opportunity to
directly ask our passionate researchers anything about our work here at UKAEA.
You are welcome to attend with friends and family, but please note there is a maximum of 10 tickets per group. There is a minimum age limit of 12 years old. Anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Please note that the tour involves a substantial amount of walking and that hard hats are worn for part of the tour.
Put this in your diary - bookings will be taken in the New Year.
ATOM Presents.....at St Helen & St Katharine
Thursday 19th March
7.30pm | Doors open at 7pm
Lecture Theatre, St Helen & St Katharine
Talk: Where the arts meet science: Keeping the Mary Rose shipshape
Dr Eleanor Schofield
Eleanor Schofield has led the conservation team at the Mary Rose Trust for a decade and is delighted to return to ATOM Science Festival to update us on the techniques of conservation of this fascinating historic monument.
Since its excavation from the Solent in 1982, Henry VIII’s ship the Mary Rose has been on display in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. The ship and its collection of over 19,000 objects tell the story of the people who served on board and the lives they led. Fundamental to unlocking the stories they hold, is stabilising the materials the objects are made from, a task challenged not just by their age but by the marine environment they resided in for over 450 years. Here, Dr Eleanor Schofield reveals the science and engineering disciplines that ensure this collection remains safe for future generations to enjoy and explore.
Image credit: Mary Rose Trust
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ATOM presents.....Workshops at the Guildhall
Saturday March 21st
Roysse Room, Abingdon Guildhall
ATOM's Family Workshops
Ibrick Sessions with House of Fun
Science for kids through the interactive power of Lego. Learning the principles of physics as you build!
Tickets £3 per child place on one workshop. Please note this is not a creche facility and a parent/carer will need to accompany the child and stay in the building while the workshop is going on.
ATOM presents.....Family Day in Nature
Sunday March 22nd
Pond, Field and Riverbank
Explore local ecology, discover the mini-creatures who live all around us.
Abingdon Naturalists are hosting a family day with activities in the outdoors.
ATOM presents.....Workshops in the Guildhall
Sunday March 22nd
ATOM's Family Workshops
What's in an Owl Pellet?
Dissect a real owl pellet and find out what kind of prey your owl was eating.
Choose from workshops at 10.30am or 2pm
ATOM presents.....at the Amey Theatre
Monday March 23rd
Doors open at 7pm
Presentations start at 7.30pm
The Amey Theatre, Abingdon School
FameLab Academy Oxfordshire Finals
ATOM celebrated our 10th anniversary by launching the Oxfordshire FameLab Academy in 2024. As we move into our second decade, schools across Oxfordshire are invited to enter the competition to be the best young science communicator. See the finalists give their presentations on this evening in the Amey Theatre and find out which school and which pupil carries off the trophy.
Booking not required.
For more information click here
ATOM presents.....at the Amey Theatre
Tuesday March 24th
7.30pm | Doors open at 7pm
The Amey Theatre, Abingdon School
Professor Gwyneth Lewis OBE
Why Did Mrs X Die?
Every 2 minutes, somewhere in the world, a pregnant woman needlessly dies. Often her baby too. This is despite health care workers and policy makers knowing, for many years, how to prevent or treat many of the underlying problems, often at little or no extra cost.
The avoidable deaths of nearly 300,000 mothers a year represents the largest global public health inequality today. Although lessons are being learnt, and solutions put into practice, progress has been painfully slow, and, in some parts of the world, is now being reversed.
To better understand the causes of death and disability, and to describe the barriers to safe motherhood faced by mothers in low- and middle-income countries, Professor Gwyneth Lewis will use the case of Mrs X, a “universal mother”, to highlight the difficulties she might encounter in her journey though pregnancy and birth. She will show how the lessons learnt from reviewing their deaths have helped save millions of women’s lives in the past 25 years, and the significant challenges that remain.
ATOM Presents.....at the Amey Theatre
Wednesday March 25th
7.30pm | Doors open at 7pm
The Amey Theatre, Abingdon School
Professor Frank Close OBE
Lecture and ATOM VIP Evening
Harwell @ 80: from quarks to quasars and protons to proteins
2026 is the 80th anniversary of the establishment of "The Atomic", officially the "Atomic Energy Research Establishment" at Harwell.
Originally built in a "rural backwater" to develop UK leadership in the peaceful use of nuclear energy, "The Atomic" has transformed scientific understanding across the whole range of scales, from
quarks to quasars and protons to proteins as well as altering local geography and society.
Today ATOM rightly celebrates Abingdon as the epicentre of big science. Not only did Harwell's early work lead to Calder Hall, the first commercial source of nuclear energy, but it developed the
standards for nuclear safety, radiobiology, development of radioisotopes for medicine, and more. The Medical Research Council was one of its first clients.
Today the campus includes work ranging from vaccines and the structure of matter to the vastness of space and astronomy.
The talk will show how science and technology have changed our world in the last 80 years and how much of that change can be traced back to Harwell. Harwell @80 is time to celebrate our nuclear heritage.
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